Workshop on GIS Tools Supporting Ecosystem Approaches to Management
held September 8-10, 2004

This session demonstrated the state of the art on applying GIS to ecosystem management in marine fisheries or in allied fields. Specific attention was given to actual GIS tools, analyses, or procedures that are in use and the spatially related needs that have arisen through their application to real problems.

Representatives from the Fishery Management Councils described interactions between fishery management plans and any limitations regarding, for example, EFH, trophic interactions, bycatch interactions etc. Each council pointed out the type of decision-making that is done with available information and what information is needed.

The purpose of this session was to gauge the richness or sparseness of spatial data relating to the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and to learn from the experiences of our Pacific Coast colleagues. Each presenter provided a description of the spatial data for which their organization has primary responsibility for collecting and maintaining or for which they have special experience in utilizing for ecosystem-based management. Presenters also touched on notable gaps in spatial data that may hinder ecosystem-based approaches to management.

The Science Needs session surveyed the spatial analyses or tools that living marine resource scientists need to understand individual components of an ecosystem and how those components interact. Topics of discussion included delineation of ecosystem boundaries, incorporating spatial variation in stock assessments, characterizing species distribution and abundance, spatial variation in food webs, ecosystem services, and connectivity analysis.