Marxan as a zoning tool for development and economic purposed areas - Aquaculture Management Areas (AMAs)

The increased number of human activities within the marine environment and the demand for maritime space has increased to a point where in some parts of the globe the demand for maritime space has exceeded the available area. The overlapping objectives and activities have caused severe conflicts among users and with the natural marine environment itself. For that reason, holistic strategies such as Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) and Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) have been evolved and developed to sustainably manage the marine environment, avoiding conflicts and creating synergies.Spatial analysis tools like Marxan have been used for several years as decision support tools mostly for conservation plans, such as design and establishment of protected areas. In this study we approach the potential of this tool with a different purpose in mind: instead of using the available information of the region for the development of a conservation plan, we used this tool and the available information to select areas to establish Aquaculture Management Areas (AMAs). We also intended to analyse how the existing features of the region would affect the final result of a spatial plan aimed to establish areas for economic and development purposes.We conclude that the use of Marxan can be advantageous to support the planning and development of coastal regions, not only in a conservationist point of view (as it has been mostly used), but also into a developing and economic driven approach. This tool can be particularly useful in regions or situations where there is a large number of stakeholders, ecological and geographical features that could potentially conflict with the establishment, the management and the success of the proposed management areas.