A DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR REGULATING FINFISH AQUACULTURE

Ecologists are caught in a difficult situation when called upon to provide advice to managers. On the one hand, they want to provide the best advice possible, even though they are dealing with systems that are complex and involve process that are difficult to understand without extensive scientific training and sophistication. On the other hand, many managers have limited ecological expertise, and they are often unfamiliar with or even suspicious of theoretical approaches. They are also reluctant to surrender any decision-making power to scientists, which often makes it difficult for scientific advisors to function effectively. Furthermore, decisions generally involve more than strictly scientific considerations, and managers have to receive scientific advice in a form which they can easily balance against these other concerns. We have therefore begun development of a Decision Support System (DSS) as a tool for communicating scientific advice to managers, with specific emphasis on the licensing of finfish aquaculture sites. This DSS will incorporate simplified versions of several models along with a geographical data base of relevant hydrographic and other environmental and resource use information. At the heart of the system is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) which lets the user operate with a familiar representation of the system, namely a nautical chart, and use a mouse for selection of locations of interest. In addition, the results will be displayed in a form that lets the user see the environmental impacts as they evolve in space and time.