Mapping of fisheries resources at panchayat level using GIS.

摘要

The availability of information on resources is of primary importance in the planning and development process and for taking appropriate policy decisions. This is more apt in ecologically fragile areas like the coastal zones. The vulnerability of the coastal zone was evident through the devastating impact of the Tsunami in 2004. To make the process of retrieval and analysis of the data more perceivable, interactive, and easy to visualize, it is ideal to put it on a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform. This article highlights the development of GIS-based fisheries resource maps of Chellanam panchayat in the Ernakulam district, Kerala, India. The information incorporated in this map was generated using GPS and field level surveys and analyzed and interpreted using suitable geoprocessing tools of ArcGIS, an ESRI software of GIS, used for the development of the GIS models. In all, three resource specific maps were developed besides other figures and tables, generated out of survey data and of GIS analysis.