Integrated Systems Analysis for Marine Site Evaluations and Multicriteria Decision Support for Coastal Aquaculture

Abstract

Traditional fisheries are based on wild, spatially uncontrolled stocks whose habitats are the coastal and marine environments. Aquaculture attempts to control and manage the supply of products from the sea by establishing designated marine farms. In recent years, the aquaculture industry is growing more rapidly than all other animal food producing sectors (Allen et al. 1992; Fletcher and Neyrey 2003). However, aquaculture has also been challenged by complex interactions between marine resources, ecosystems and multiple resource users. An integrated valuation approach that incorporates the ecosystem, aquaculture, and other marine activities is needed to promote sustainable development in the coastal zone and to find feasible solutionsto resolve conflicts (Nath et al. 2000).