SeaSketch Used to Create Draft Sanctuaries in Barbuda

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On August 16, 2013, the Barbuda Council used SeaSketch to visualize and analyze geospatial information about the distribution of resources and human activities in and around the 3 nm boundary of Barbuda waters.

The proposal provides for 6 sanctuaries - 5 oceanic and 1 in the lagoon - that permanently close fishing of any kind in a total of 38% of Barbuda waters. We are now consulting with stakeholders in public meetings and one-on-one to solicit reactions and alternate ideas.

Using simple drawing tools, council members authored draft maps in a two-hour meeting. Sketches were immediately evaluated to determine whether they met science and policy guidelines for ecosystem protection and minimizing impacts to fishermen on the island.

A public discussion forum in SeaSketch was used to post these ideas and solicit feedback from citizens of Barbuda. Alternate ideas, criticisms and support for this "straw-man" proposal will be recorded in the discussion forum and reviewed by the council 4 days later.

Stakeholders also used sketching tools to author modified versions of the council proposal and evaluate them using the reporting and analytical features in SeaSketch.

The council proposal was posted to a publicly accessible forum: http://seasket.ch/Ow-EefMJG2

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Will McClintock

Dr. Will McClintock is a Project Scientist at the University of California Santa Barbara and former Director of the MarineMap Consortium. He received a B.A. in Biology from Earlham College, M.S. in Behavioral Ecology from the University of Cincinnati, an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology from the University of California Santa Barbara. He has participated in over a dozen marine spatial planning initiatives around the world.