Aquaculture Data Collection & Management

Module AZA-104 of the FAO-GFCM curriculum addresses the implementation of Phase 2 (Data Collection and Management) within AZA spatial governance. The discussion covers the categorization of spatial parameters (environmental/oceanographic, socio-economic, infrastructure, and administrative/usage zones) and methodologies for acquiring both primary data (field surveys, GPS/georeferencing, drones, and participatory mapping) and secondary data. The module also guides participants through data validation and standardization, metadata documentation, data gap analysis, and the design of a structured GIS database architecture (raster, vector, and attribute tables) to serve as an evidence base prior to conducting spatial suitability analysis.

• 1. Classify key zoning parameters across environmental/oceanographic, socio-economic, infrastructure, and administrative/spatial usage categories
• 2. Differentiate primary field data collection methods (GPS, drones, field sampling, participatory mapping) from secondary data sources and repositories
• 3. Assess data quality, execute standardization, and create standardized metadata documentation for spatial datasets
• 4. Design structured spatial database frameworks and attribute tables to organize thematic GIS layers for AZA suitability modeling