An Information System for Marine Resource Planning and Management

Abstract

ABSTRACT The problems associated with the management of coastal resources are many and complex. Better understanding of the problems and improved information about the physical, chemical and biological conditions as well as social implications associated with the problems are needed for the wise management of ourcoastal resources. These are 'the goals of a research program now underway on Long Island. The information system for marine resource planning and management described in this paper is a part of that program. INTRODUCTION A comprehensive program of research has been undertaken under the aegis of the Nassau-Suffolk Regional Planning Board on Long Island, New York for the purpose of developing the knowledge necessary for improved management of the marine resources of the area. During the past year the Travelers Research Corporation has been under contract to the Nassau-Suffolk Regional Marine Resources Council, an arm of the Planning Board, to conduct the research for the design phase of the program, to define the major problem areas, to identify the knowledge and data needed and to design an information system for management and planning in the coastal zone. The initial stages of the program were funded by the two counties. Subsequent funding has been provided by the Sea Grant Program of the National Science Foundation. The research program has been structured into a series of functional steps which are:to understand the problems associated with the marine resources of Long" Island,to identify the knowledge necessary for making sound decisions with regard to the Long Island marine resources,to identify the availability, reliability, and applicability of existing knowledge and data,to determine necessary data collection and research activities,to collect required data and perform necessary research, andto develop a system for organizing the knowledge and data for providing information to marine resource planners. The purpose of this paper is to describe the management information system being developed for the program. The term "information system" is being used here in the broadest sense. In this paper it refers to the collection of data, knowledge and techniques which will be brought together in a systematic way to provide information which will be useful to resource planners and managers. THE APPROACH The approach followed up to this time began with an effort to identify and describe the problems associated with the Long Island marine resources. In this regard we have adopted a set of working definitions. First, we have confined our inquiry to those relationships that involve man and the marine resource environment, taken in the rather narrow sense of interactions at the technical resource utilization level. A marine resource problem, then, is a man-environment situation in the near-shore marine environment that involves human dissatisfactions. The next step was to develop a series of questions concerning each problem that, if answered, would allow one to manage the problem. Analysis of compiled questions then led to the identification of an "ideal" set of knowledge and data that would hypothetically provide answers to the questions.