4 - Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture

Naaonal Workshop-cum-Training on Bioinformatics and Information Management in Aquaculture
Fig. 4 A hierarchical modeling scheme to assess the suitability of locations, and
associated yield potentials for inland aquaculture in Africa (adapted from Aguilar-
Manjarrez and Nath, 1998).
11.0 Future Trend
Geographic information systems science and technology, continues to evolve at a
rapid pace. Advances are being made with regard to ease of use, manipulation of
large (\I00 MB) datasets, interoperability of databases among different systems,
and in the collection and preprocessing of datasets. Perhaps the most significant
development is an increasing trend towards the use of GIs as a component of a
larger decision support system. The current release of ArcInfo (Version 8.3,
ESRI, Inc.) has replaced the monolithic application model with an object-based
component model that facilitates embedding GIs technology in broader
application frameworks. This allows developers to produce customized
applications utilizing spatial datasets, and has particular usefulness in allowing
more robust interaction between models and GIs datasets, and in connecting
relational database systems to map displays. Another area in which GIs is
playing an increasingly important role is in landscape visualization and 'futuring'.
Kapetsky (1998) is of the opinion that this will become increasingly used in both
inland fisheries assessments and aquaculture as well.
Technological progress continues to be made in the acquisition of spatially
explicit datasets. Increasingly, remote sensed data are becoming available from
a rich set of satellite sources and from lower-altitude aerial fly-overs. A
substantial commercial industry focused on developing and supplying a broad
range of datasets has recently arisen. ,As previously indicated, the internet has
greatly facilitated the distribution of datasets of all types, and most government
agencies are beginning to distribute many datasets online. The cost of electronic
storage (often less than $ZO:GB) and increasing capabilities of personal