Opportunities for strengthening aquaculture industry through multicriteria decision‐making

Abstract

In operations research, there are methodological tools included in decision theory that can help decision‐makers understand and systematize the decision‐making process. Decisions can be classified either as mono‐criterial, when only one criterion or goal is considered to evaluate its performance or multicriterial, which takes into account the interaction between two or more goals or criteria that can be in conflict. Natural resource management and finance are some important examples where the implementation of this type of tools has benefited the decision‐making process because they allow a number of criteria or objectives to be weighted in a transparent manner to assist when one or more decision‐makers are involved. Despite this, its application was not common in aquaculture; however, in recent years, efforts have increased exponentially. This work seeks to identify opportunity areas for development of new aquaculture‐related research through the implementation of multicriterial decision‐making methods (MCDM). To achieve this, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis was performed to detect MCDM applications that have been implemented in aquaculture industry (24 documents that were grouped into eight applications). Later, this information was complemented through the analysis of selected applications in natural resources management, specifically in fisheries, animal husbandry and agriculture. We propose 23 research topics relevant to the aquaculture industry that can be addressed by the methodologies in MCDM.

Aquaculture Site Selection of Oncorhynchus Mykiss (Rainbow Trout) in Markazi Province Using GIS-Based MCDM

“…Second, as mentioned, the research combines GIS and MCDM approaches for a better output, despite the limitations of the data. As such, several studies report the advantages of MCDM methods interfaced with the GIS environment for land evaluation and site selection purposes [54][55][56][57][58][59]. Given this, recognizing the factors affecting the location and determining the extent of the constraints they create is one of the important issues in valuing aquaculture-prone areas [49].…”

Towards a computer-based decision support system for aquaculture stakeholders in Greece in the context of climate change

“…Climate change is yet one more of these factors and the necessity to address the imminent, but to a large extent uncertain, implications of the phenomenon on aquaculture has been recognised. Although the majority of DSS developed in aquaculture have so far focused on the effect of a limited number of factors on farm operation, production or profitability, there is an increasing trend for the development of multi-criteria approaches and tools that are more effective at supporting decision-making (Vergara-Solana et al, 2018). Here, we presented ongoing work towards the development of a DSS for aquaculture stakeholders in Greece that simulates the effects of climate change on aquaculture by incorporating environmental, economic and husbandry parameters.…”

Sustainable Aquafeeds: Using Aquafarmer Preference to Inform a Multi-criteria Decision Analysis

“…25,26 In MCDA, a multidimensional decision making approach is used to tackle complex problems, entailing varying forms of data, antagonistic objectives, and multiple interests and perspectives. 25,27,28 For example, Yin et al 29 have performed a MCDA to identify the most suitable coastal aquaculture sites in the Menai Strait (U.K.), incorporating environmental and socioeconomic factors. Considering the wide variety of potential functions for the investigated coastal areas (e.g., transportation, recreation, leisure fishing, etc.…”