Geographic Information Systems to Support the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries

The ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) has been developed over the last decade in response to perceived and actual deficiencies in previous methods of management. The EAF recognises that fish are only one albeit important part of a much wider ecosystem incorporating an array of physical and biological components that humans interact with and exploit. Geographic information systems (GIS) are considered an ideal platform upon which to perform necessary information management and decision-support analysis for the implementation of an EAF. This technical paper is intended to be a guide to methods that readers could adopt for their own use of GIS for an EAF. The practical consideration are discussed and include hardware architecture, various software possibilities, sources and types of data that will be needed, and the array of backup and support that is available.