Full report - Conservation Gateway

Chapter 13 - Human UsesUnfortunately, nearly all of these map layers had limitationsthat precluded their utility for full integration andanalysis with geophysical and ecological data within theassessment. Several of the human use spatial data layersdid not cover a substantial portion of the planningarea and layers had little to none of the metadata neededto evaluate spatial data accuracy and appropriate use.Therefore, spatial data on human uses is not being distributedwith the assessment.However, Figure 13-1 is included to illustrate some of thehuman activity within the assessment study area usingsome of the more credible and authoritative data on humanuses. The source data used to create this image includesFishing Vessel Trip Report data information kindlyprovided by NOAA Fisheries, binned by ten minutesquare to provide a general regional scale sense of the distributionand intensity of commercial fishing activity andalso shows fishery related (including seafood processingand aquaculture) economic activity by coastal county fromthe report described above and included as Appendix 13-2.Additional map layers are overlaid on this imagedepict shipping lanes, hazardous waste dump site locations,and a subset of existing telecommunications cables.The Conservancy looks forward to working with state andfederal agencies and other interested parties to developmarine spatial data on human uses that is robust enoughto support marine spatial planning approaches.Northwest Atlantic Marine Ecoregional Assessment • Phase 1 Report 13-