Analysis of uses and activities in the Argentine Sea. Bases for a Marine Spatial Planning in the North Argentina Basin

Abstract

Marine ecosystems constitute systems of enormous wealth and biodiversity. They offer a large number of ecosystem services that have promoted the development of uses and activities for their benefit by societies. This has generated conflicts between actors and the ecosystem that need to be managed. The Exclusive Economic Zone and the Argentine Continental Shelf do not escape this trend. In this context, Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) seeks to define a spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas in such a way as to minimize conflicts in an integrated, adaptive, strategic and participatory way. It is on this foundation that the objective of this work is to identify and analyse compatibility / conflicts of uses and activities developed in the area of the North Argentinean Basin of the Argentine Sea, in order to generate a foundation that works as the origin for a MSP in the area. From the results obtained, it was possible to determine that six subareas should be the first in which interventions are carried out, since they are the ones that are most compromised. This work allowed setting a precedent for those priority areas that should be intervened due to the risk they present of being degraded. Therefore, as a recommendation, short-term action in these spaces should be considered. Likewise, all social actors should also be included. None should be dismissed since, to a greater or lesser extent, they will be affected by the decisions made with the MSP process