A significant proportion of fishery marine areas are in a crisis, the results of which are manifest in the spatio-temporal domain. Thus decisions on their management and remediation can best be made using tools that are efficient at functioning in the spatio-temporal domain. The use of GIS in marine and coastal management in South Africa is a relatively new approach and has been applied to fisheries, intertidal zones and coastal remote sensing.

Fisheries applications

GIS analysis of larval fish composition and abundance on the north-east coast of South Africa demonstrated how the composition and abundance of larval fish assemblages changes with different marine habitats along the coast. The two coral reef sites in the north, Kosi and Sodwana, have many different families of fish larvae present. In contrast, the estuaries are dominated by a few families in large numbers. There are less species with an Indo-Pacific distribution range and more that are endemic, the further south you go down the coast of South Africa.

Coastal Decision GIS

During the last five years, the KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife has been developing a Coastal Decision GIS with detailed information on the intertidal zone, from the top of the dunes down to the spring low tide mark. From these data (100 m blocks), KZN Wildlife are able to determine, for example, mussel density and zooanthid abundance every 100 m on the KZN coast.

An integral part of the South African Integrated Spatial Information System (SA-ISIS, funded by the Department of Art, Culture, Science and Technology) is the Marine Integrated Development Support System (MIDeSS). MIDeSS is a decision support system using GIS for sustainable development and management of the South African coastline and is under development by the Marine Indicator Group of SA-ISIS. This information will be available on the Internet for decision-makers from national to local level.

Another project currently underway is the Determination of Marine Reserves by applying C-Plan (Conservation Planning Software with a GIS Interface, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services, Australia). Critical biota for all marine ecosystems, habitats and biotopes in South Africa will be identified and incorporated into GIS coverages.

The SA Coastal Information Centre (Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, DEAT) has an interactive GIS coastal mapping website - a 'virtual spatial library' ( sacoast.uwc.ac.za) which is part of the coastal management awareness campaign.

Coastal remote sensing

The CSIR has developed the Oteniqua Coastal Decision Support System (which was implemented in 1995 as a joint project between DEAT and CSIR). The project uses satellite imagery and GIS to map-sensitive coastal areas using vegetation and land use information. All software was supplied by GIMS.

GIMS

(011) 315 0390