AIS data to inform small scale fisheries management and marine spatial planning

Abstract

Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) are collision avoidance devices used on-board both commercial and leisure craft. These systems report the position, track and speed of the vessel through Very High Frequency radio transmissions which are accessible to any suitable receiver. This paper explores the potential to use AIS data to inform small scale fisheries management and marine spatial planning. First, the propagation and reception of the line of sight AIS transmissions was modelled around the coast of Scotland to identify areas where the use of AIS may be compromised. Using open source Geographic Information System and relational database software, computationally efficient methods of processing and analysing AIS data were explored. Three months of AIS data derived from 274 Scottish small scale fishing vessels were used to provide spatio-temporal analyses of trip duration and distance travelled, location of fishing activities, and vessel dependency on fishing grounds. The coverage, opportunities and challenges of using AIS are discussed together with broader applications and future developments.

Using AIS to Attempt a Quantitative Evaluation of Unobserved Trawling Activity in the Mediterranean Sea

“…The Automatic Identification System (AIS) was originally introduced by the International Maritime Organization to enhance safety at sea by enabling navigators to view the position, identity, and direction of other ships in the area. Its characteristics include a considerable accuracy in providing vessel position (Gioia et al, 2013), high-frequency transmission (James et al, 2018), and accessibility through several online portals (Le Tixerant et al, 2018). Even though AIS was initially developed to avoid collisions between vessels (Goerlandt and Kujala, 2011;Wu et al, 2017), its features make it a useful tool for Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) and for the management of a number of maritime activities (Shelmerdine, 2015).…”

Safe Navigation Distance Between Marine Routes and Aquaculture Farms in South Korea Using Gaussian Mixture Model

“…If the fisheries attempt to install aquaculture farms within 1000 m from traffic routes, then a rigorous application of the law with respect to illegal farms is required. In this scenery, it is necessary to properly plan the installation and management of aquaculture farms using marine spatial planning and an integral management process of all sea resources that ensures the sustainability of fishery installations, security, and the ecology of the marine and coastal spaces [8,9,22,[48][49][50][51].…”

“…Indeed, it is difficult to find the exact location of aquaculture farms because they are widely distributed on the sea, and research is being conducted using satellite and aerial images to understand the distribution and status of aquaculture farms [19][20][21]. In relation to this topic, marine spatial planning (MSP) and the use of technologies such as the automatic identification systems (AIS) can contribute to the location, security, planning, and management of aquaculture farms on the sea [7][8][9]22].…”

PeskAAS: A near-real-time, open-source monitoring and analytics system for small-scale fisheries

“…These ICTs innovations commonly include design and development of mobile smartphone applications and digital survey forms [ 11 ]. There are some examples of applications and tools to collect fisheries data on a small scale, the most successful of which are generally ‘high touch’, meaning they involve significant contextual development that cannot easily be scaled to other systems or geographies (see [ 12 – 15 ]). The danger in developing scalable technologies is that they are often imposed as prescribed ‘solutions’ on low-income countries, and can merely reinforce the capacity gap, alienate managers and stakeholders, and be ill-suited to the contextual reality [ 16 , 17 ].…”