A WEB BASED DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR AQUACULTURE SITING AND MANAGEMENT  

Øivind Strand1*, Junyong You2, Anne A. Hageberg2, Aline Gangnery3, Cedric Bacher4, Baisong Chen5, Jianguang Fang6
 
1Institute of Marine Research, PO Box 1870 Nordnes, N-5817 Bergen, Norway,
2Christian Michelsen Research, PO Box 6031, NO-5892, Bergen, Norway,
3Ifremer, LERN, Avenue du Général de Gaulle - BP 32, 14 520 Port En Bessin, France,
4Ifremer, DYNECO, BP 70, 29 280 Plouzané, France,
5Research Center of Information and Economy, (CAFS), 150 Qingta Road, Beijing, P.R. China,
6Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute (CAFS), 106 Nanjing Road, Qingdao, P.R. China,
E-Mail: oivinds@imr.no

The management of coastal areas involving aquaculture is becoming more complex with new activities, stakeholders and interests, facing various environmental and social interactions. To meet these challenges there is need for novel tools in spatial planning for aquaculture management. The decision support system AkvaVis is a web-based dynamic Geographic Information System (GIS) under development for spatial planning, demonstrated by cases in Norway, in France and in China. These cases are assessed and will be further demonstrated in the AquaSpace project: Ecosystem Approach to making Space for Aquaculture, funded by the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation - H2020.

The concept of AkvaVis is that the user dynamically communicates with an integrated system of data compilation, simulations, coastal zone development plans, regulatory frameworks, analysis, assessments, etc. It applies georeferenced information, objects containing quantitative information on environmental parameters and regulations on the allocation of area set by the society. Here we present the concept of AkvaVis, demonstrated by the cases developed for salmon aquaculture in the Hardangerfjord in Norway, the SISAQUA tool for mussel and oyster farming in Normandie in France and the sinoAkvaVis for a scallop sea ranching area in Zhangzi islands in China.