Tracked to protect - Spatiotemporal dynamics of recreational boating in sensitive marine natural areas

In many coastal areas, high numbers of recreationists may exceed ecological capacities. Careful monitoring of visitor flows is a first prerequisite for coastal area management. We show how AIS ship data can be translated into interpretable information on recreational boats and investigate whether AI...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Applied geography (Sevenoaks) Vol. 130; p. 102441
Main Authors:	Meijles, E.W., Daams, M.N., Ens, B.J., Heslinga, J.H., Sijtsma, F.J.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2021
Subjects:	Automatic identification system (AIS) Big data analysis GPS tracking Sustainable landscape management UNESCO Natural world heritage site Wadden sea GPS tracking Wadden sea Automatic identification system (AIS) Big data analysis UNESCO Natural world heritage site Sustainable landscape management
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Summary:	In many coastal areas, high numbers of recreationists may exceed ecological capacities. Careful monitoring of visitor flows is a first prerequisite for coastal area management. We show how AIS ship data can be translated into interpretable information on recreational boats and investigate whether AIS can provide monitoring information when compared to nature conservation policy targets. In the Wadden Sea UNESCO World Heritage Site we used nearly 9 million data points to create spatiotemporal patterns for the 2018 recreation season. We combined this with shipping lanes and bathymetry data and compared the resulting patterns with nature protection regulations. Our results show that most of the traffic is concentrated around tidal channels. We also show that exceeding speed limits is not predominant behaviour, but the effect of speeding on birds and seals might be more severe than the data suggests. We mapped favourite tidal flat moor activities, and observed where this occurs in Marine Protected Areas. We conclude that AIS analysis can provide valuable recreational boating monitoring, relevant to sensitive coastal area management in the entire Dutch Wadden Sea for the full recreational season. Broader integration of AIS with radar data and ecological data can add to the power of using AIS. •Automatically received ship-location data are used to monitor recreational boats.•Analysis of 9 million AIS data points allows monitoring large areas over long periods.•AIS analysis provides valuable monitoring of visitor flows for sensitive marine areas.•Ship movements are concentrated in deeper, less vulnerable, parts of the Wadden Sea.•A high rate of tidal flat mooring is identified in some Marine Protected Areas.
ISSN:	0143-6228 1873-7730
DOI:	10.1016/j.apgeog.2021.102441