Resumen

MEXICANO-CINTORA, G; LICEAGA-CORREA, MA  y  SALAS, S. Use of geographic information systems in fisheries: the fishery in Yucatan, Southern Gulf of Mexico. Universidad y ciencia [online]. 2009, vol.25, n.1, pp.23-38. ISSN 0186-2979.

A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to obtain a general profile of the fisheries in the state of Yucatan in a spatial-temporal context, in order to identify the main components of the fisheries system and the conditions under which fishing activities take place in the region. Fishing represents an important social and economic contribution in this region as thousands of fishermen and their families depend on it. The GIS generated maps that indicate the composition of species, the areas where the fleet operates, and the distribution of the fishery infrastructure and fishery population organised by port. The maps were associated with their metadata, which helped to describe the source of the spatial data and facilitated the classification of the generated information. Results show that the major catches were concentrated in eight fishing ports, and consisted mainly of octopus, grouper, snapper and lobster. A concentration of reception centers, freezers and ice plants was observed in 37.5 % of the analysed ports. The distribution of the population of fishermen was heterogeneous throughout the area. The fishery production presented a decrease in the main resources, in this case grouper and octopus. The use of GIS made it possible to use heterogeneous data bases, to optimise data storage in order to generate dynamic information, and to easily and practically organise the generated information. Analyses of fisheries using GISs will facilitate communication among researchers, managers, fishermen and other resource users by providing access to the integrated knowledge and tools for decision making.

Palabras llave : Geographic Information Systems; fishery; metadata; interdiscipline; Yucatan.

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