Spatial Access Priority Mapping (SAPM) with Fishers: A Quantitative GIS Method for Participatory Planning

Abstract

Spatial management tools, such as marine spatial planning and marine protected areas, are playing an increasingly important role in attempts to improve marine management and accommodate conflicting needs. Robust data are needed to inform decisions among different planning options, and early inclusion of stakeholder involvement is widely regarded as vital for success. One of the biggest stakeholder groups, and the most likely to be adversely impacted by spatial restrictions, is the fishing community. In order to take their priorities into account, planners need to understand spatial variation in their perceived value of the sea. Here a readily accessible, novel method for quantitatively mapping fishers’ spatial access priorities is presented. Spatial access priority mapping, or SAPM, uses only basic functions of standard spreadsheet and GIS software. Unlike the use of remote-sensing data, SAPM actively engages fishers in participatory mapping, documenting rather than inferring their priorities. By so doing, SAPM also facilitates the gathering of other useful data, such as local ecological knowledge. The method was tested and validated in Northern Ireland, where over 100 fishers participated in a semi-structured questionnaire and mapping exercise. The response rate was excellent, 97%, demonstrating fishers’ willingness to be involved. The resultant maps are easily accessible and instantly informative, providing a very clear visual indication of which areas are most important for the fishers. The maps also provide quantitative data, which can be used to analyse the relative impact of different management options on the fishing industry and can be incorporated into planning software, such as MARXAN, to ensure that conservation goals can be met at minimum negative impact to the industry. This research shows how spatial access priority mapping can facilitate the early engagement of fishers and the ready incorporation of their priorities into the decision-making process in a transparent, quantitative way.

Spatio‐temporal marine conservation planning to support high‐latitude coral range expansion under climate change

“…Improving the spatial representation of socio-economic values of coral reefs to users, such as opportunity costs of reef fishing, using the field data and involving stakeholders would better represent social desires and minimize the impacts on stakeholders Yates & Schoeman, 2013). In Japan, there are approximately a thousand marine managed areas where some kind of fishing is allowed (Yagi et al, 2010), but our analysis is concerned with no-take areas that would exclude all fishing.…”

Addressing Uncertainty in Marine Resource Management; Combining Community Engagement and Tracking Technology to Characterize Human Behavior

“…). Interviews, on the other hand, are resource intensive, reliant on fishers’ participation, and can vary in accuracy due to differences in fishers’ spatial perceptions (Yates & Schoeman ; Turner et al . ).…”

“…For example, behavioral rules assume that the behavior of fishers is uniform Stewart et al 2010). Interviews, on the other hand, are resource intensive, reliant on fishers' participation, and can vary in accuracy due to differences in fishers' spatial perceptions (Yates & Schoeman 2013;Turner et al 2015). Consequently, these approaches do not always accurately describe fishers behaviors, and are often limited to a few study sites (Teh & Teh 2011).…”

Attitudes and perceptions of fishermen on the island of Ireland towards the development of marine renewable energy projects

“…Recent studies on the mapping of fishing activity have involved the participation of fishermen to identify areas of most importance for fishing [21,56]. Such mapping exercises are useful in filling in gaps in baseline data and could be used by developers to avoid fishing grounds.…”

“…In 2011 there were 578 full time fishermen in Northern Ireland and 688 in total (full and part time) with the trawling fleet accounting for the vast majority of jobs [20]. In 2013 there were 367 vessels registered in the Northern Ireland fleet, 224 of which are officially recorded as active [21]. More than half of those active vessels (57%) are less than 15 m in length.…”