AGI Cymru 2013 - Plenary - NRW / Astun - Fish Map Mon

FishMap Môn:Informing Sustainable Management

Bruce Jackson (NRW)

Mike Saunt

(Astun Technology Ltd.)

Introduction

•FishMap Môn is a collaborative pilot project between Natural Resources Wales and the recreational and commercial fishing communities in North Wales.

•Who is involved? – Central and Local Government, Bangor Mussel Producers Ltd, North Wales Fisherman’s Cooperative Ltd, Welsh Federation of Sea Anglers

•How is it funded? - 75% EFF; 25% WG (running until end December 2013)

FishMap Môn: Informing Sustainable Management

• Provide evidence to aid identification of areas that are either vulnerable or robust to fishing activity

• Collect and map data on commercial and recreational fishing activity and combine it with information on marine habitats and their sensitivity to fishing activities – evidence based approach to management

Project Aims

• The Project aims to inform the sustainable management of the Welsh marine environment helping to achieve the vision of the Wales Fisheries Strategy of “supporting the development of viable and sustainable fisheries in Wales as an integral part of coherent policies for safeguarding the environment”.

• To develop positive working relationships between NRW and the local Fishing Industry through positive engagement and collaboration


Study Area

The Project area is located between Nefyn to the west and the Great Orme to the east and extends out to the Welsh 12 nautical mile limit.

Diversity of Fishing Activities Marine Conservation Areas


Collecting Fishing Activity Data

What we ask fishers:

1. Where they fish (using habitat maps & plotter data)

2. When they fish & how frequently

3. Gear characteristics (e.g. gear width, no of dredges number of pots etc)

4. Speed of vessel during fishing


ESRI – geodatabase, forms and digitising

Collecting Fishing Activity Data

Digitising Fishing Activity during an Interview


Commercial Fishing Data

Gear TypeNumber

Surveyed

(75)

King Scallops3 Local

3 Scottish

Queen Scallops 2

Mussel Dredging 3

Oyster Trestles 1

Otter Trawling 3

Parlour Pots 30

Prawn Pots 9

Whelk Pots 7

Green Crab Pots 1

Netters 9

Rod and Line Fishing 2

Winkle Pickers

Buyer and Seller surveyed representing most of the pickers around Anglesey

2


Recreational Fishing Data

• 480 recreational sea anglers surveyed (over 12 months)

• 52 “hobby” potters

• 26 / 28 charter boat operators

• Recreational bait collectors


Fishing Intensity

• Fishing Effort is a measure of an activity over time - e.g. pots hauled per day

• Fishing Intensity is a measure of effort in a given area - e.g. pots hauled per year per Hectare

Heavy

Light

Moderate


Seabed Habitats

Mosaic of rock and sediment

Unstable coarse sediments – robust fauna

Stable spp. rich mixed sediments

Biogenic reef on sediment

Dynamic, shallow water fine sands

Stable muddy sands, sandy muds & muds

Stable subtidal fine sands

Stable but tideswept cobbles, pebbles & gravels

Rock with low lying, fast growing faunal turf

Sands and gravels with long lived bivalves


Habitat Sensitivity Assessments

• Habitat sensitivity is a measure of the impact of a given fishing intensity upon a seabed habitat

• It is assessed using a combination of expert judgement and research by combining the resistance and the resilience of habitats to fishing activities (Peer reviewed methodology)

1. Resistance: how significantly a habitat is altered by an impact (level of species mortality)

2. Resilience: how quickly it can recover from an impact

Resistance (level of species mortality)

Category None Low Medium High

Resilience(ability to recover)

Very Low HIGH HIGH MEDIUM LOW

Low HIGH HIGH MEDIUM LOW

Medium HIGH HIGH MEDIUM LOW

High MEDIUM MEDIUM LOW LOW


Checking the sensitivity of the underlying habitat

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

16 Sand & Gravel with long lived bivalves

MEDIUM MEDIUM MEDIUM

19 Stable muddy sands, sandy mud and mud

LOW MEDIUM MEDIUM

31. Stable but tide swept cobbles, pebbles + gravel

LOW MEDIUM MEDIUM

FISHING INTENSITY LEVEL

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

< 0.8 0.8 – 3 > 3


Benefits to the Fishers and Stakeholders

• Contributing towards an evidence based approach to marine management.

• Contributing towards the sustainable management of natural marine resources

• Developing an interactive Web Mapping Application

• Learning lessons in collaborative working and stakeholder engagement


• Current proposals in Wales

• Possible case studies from FMM

How can How can FishMap MFishMap Mônôn contribute to an ecosystems contribute to an ecosystems approach to marine management in Wales?approach to marine management in Wales?

Next Steps

• WFA (endorsed by WFSA) promote an ‘Adaptive co-management Ecosystem Based Approach’ in ‘Striking the Balance’

• An Ecosystem Approach framework is being developed for WG & Natural Resources Wales

• PISCES (Partnerships Involving Stakeholders in the Celtic Sea Ecosystem)


WG & NRW Ecosystem approach WG & NRW Ecosystem approach frameworkframework

FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

1. Organising the work – partnership working bringing in stakeholders

2. & 3. Examine what activity occurring, interactions & combined effects (display with GIS)

4. Ecosystem Services: Provision of Fish & sustain wildlife resource

5. Partnership working – setting a vision

6. Generating options for management & sustainable use

7-9. Generate options for (co) management

10-12. Apply & adapt


• Light Otter Trawling in & outside SAC

Possible case studies

Charter Boats Netting Potting

•Overlaps between different activity types (Static and

Mobile)

LOT Scalloping

•Potting relative to proposed MCZ locations eg off

North coast of Llyn Peninsula


FishMap Môn

Part II – Web Application considerations…

Nearly there…

FishMap Môn


I could be talking about

FishMap Môn


Topics

•Standards Based

•Cloud Provision

•Technologies

•Licensing

•Support

FishMap Môn


Standards based

•Symbology via OGC SLD

•OGC Services through WMS / WFS

•Spatial database

•SQL is IT standard

FishMap Môn


Cloud Provision

FishMap Môn


Cloud Provision

•Only commit to what you need to

•Scale up or down as required

•Currently only small pilot area

•Less up front capital

•No IT Department headaches

FishMap Môn


Technologies

•Operating System - Linux

•Spatial database – PostGIS

•OGC engine – MapServer

•WMS proxy server - MapProxy

•Python web services – Django

•Python web templating framework – Flask

•Front end – OpenLayers, PhantomJS

FishMap Môn


Licensing

•Most restrictive possible

•100% closed source

•Complete lock-in

•Per web user fees

FishMap Môn


Licensing

•MIT license

•100% open source – available on GitHub

•No lock-in

•Cloud friendly

•No licence fee to expand

•Procurement required ESCROW…

FishMap Môn


Support

•Through reputable source

•Core developers

•Submitted enhancements

•Access to core developers

•Part of larger infrastrcture with monitoring etc

FishMap Môn


Demo

http://fishmapmon.naturalresourceswales.gov.uk

http://fishmapmon.naturalresourceswales.gov.uk/

FishMap Môn


Summary

•Licensing – still needed

•Technologies - tried and tested, core access, avoid

lock-in

•Support – reputable companies

•Focus on solution, not software or IT dept

•Cloud friendly, scale if required

Thank you for listeningNo Otters were harmed in the making of this presentation !
