Assessment of Marine Use Zones (MUZs) in the Spatial Planning of Jeonbuk Sea Waters (Southwestern Korean Peninsula)

Abstract

The Korean government has adopted marine spatial planning as a new policy tool for integrated marine space management and has designated nine Marine Use Zones (MUZs) on all sea water areas. To designate MUZs, it is necessary to conduct a Marine Spatial Assessment (MSA) to identify the scope and level of core activities and spatial conflict potential between MUZs. This paper covers the MSA method for Jeonbuk waters and discusses the limitations and implications of the current MSA for the effective designation of the MUZs. Marine spatial planning (MSP) for Jeonbuk considers various demands for use and development, such as leisure, marine energy development, and the Saemangeum construction project, as well as the protection of excellent ecology and scenery, such as tidal flats and islands. Thus, MSA was conducted to designate MUZs that reflect these regional characteristics well according to relevant guidelines. The MSA procedure consists of preparation, data collection and processing, characteristic evaluation, and conflict analysis. Specifically, data on marine use and those pertaining to resources of the target sea were collected and transformed into grid-based (3'x3') GIS data. Based on these results, the MUZs in the target area were designated and managed. This study had several limitations and implications. First, there were difficulties in defining core activities according to the accessibility and availability of input data for MSA. Hence, methods and techniques such as data fusion and their spatial interpolation are required to overcome these limitations. Second, a future study (e.g., ecosystem services) should be conducted to quantitatively evaluate and visualize the value of benefits provided by marine ecosystems. Third, location-based AIS and fishing boat data are likely to prove useful for identifying the characteristics of dynamic activities such as fishing and shipping. Finally, it is necessary to apply simulation model to reflect not only the recent behavior pertaining to the use of marine space and resources, but also potential future behavior relating to MUZs.