APPLICATION OF REMOTE SENSING AND GIS IN SITE SELECTION FOR SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE IN INDIA - A REVIEW

Non scientific and unplanned development in aquaculture has led to many controversies in the society and in other sectors of agriculture, and the sector has itself been affected adversely by many environmental problems. Scientific and sustainable development of aquaculture essentially needs better site selection. This paper briefly discusses the importance of proper site selection for sustainable aquaculture development. The requirement of a proper and systematic approach in data acquisition with high level of accuracy made remote sensing and GIS ideally suited for resource assessment and maintenance of the sustainability in aquaculture. The site selection in aquaculture is a complex task involving identification of the areas that are economically, socially and environmentally suitable, which can be available for aquaculture. Remote sensing combined with GIS is an effective tool in sustainable aquaculture development by providing information on land use and land cover, water quality, productivity, tidal influence and coastal infrastructure. In this paper we examine selected cases of site selection for aquaculture from India where remote sensing and GIS technologies are effectively used in sustainable aquaculture. The case studies reviews on the different GIS methods and criteria used depending on the area for site selection of aquaculture depending upon the type of pattern and the species used.