This study aims to develop a grid-based quantitative assessment model for the scientific designation and management of Fisheries Activity Protection Zones (FAPZ) in the context of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), and to apply it to the coastal and offsh...
This study aims to develop a grid-based quantitative assessment model for the scientific designation and management of Fisheries Activity Protection Zones (FAPZ) in the context of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), and to apply it to the coastal and offshore waters of Busan and Gyeongnam, Korea. In the first cycle of Korea’s MSP, the evaluation of FAPZ relied mainly on 3′ grids, mean-based indicators, and simple additive scoring of individual items. As a result, it did not adequately capture the complex spatial structure and temporal variability of coastal fisheries, nor the relationships among legal fishing zones, actual fishing activity, and fishery performance. To address these limitations, this study proposes a high-resolution (1 km × 1 km) assessment model grounded in the principle of a “same grid–same procedure” framework, with the aim of more precisely identifying the quantitative characteristics of FAPZ and priority management areas. On the data side, three years of AIS-based fishing vessel activity data for the Busan–Gyeongnam region, detailed fishery statistics (landings and sales records) from fishery cooperatives, and polygon data for aquaculture farms, fishery management areas, and artificial reefs were compiled and harmonized onto a 1 km × 1 km standard grid. Spatial statistics—Getis-Ord Gi* and Moran’s I—were applied to AIS trajectory data to identify statistically significant spatial hotspots of fishing activity, while Space–Time Cube and Emerging Hot Spot Analysis (EHS) were used to classify spatio-temporal patterns into persistent, sporadic, intensifying, diminishing, new, and no-activity types. Fishery data were processed to derive, for each grid cell, cumulative catch, fishing frequency, and catch per unit effort (CPUE) weighted by species composition and economic value. Legal fishing zones were quantified by creating 1 km buffer zones around aquaculture farms, fishery management areas, and artificial reefs, and calculating their overlap ratios and occupancy with respect to the standard grid. All component indicators were normalized to a 0–1 range and organized into a hierarchical structure from detailed indicators (H_value) to intermediate indicators (S_value) and an integrated index (G_value). Based on this structure, an assessment framework was developed along three dimensions: fishing behavior (activity indicators), fishery performance (outcome indicators), and legal/institutional constraints (constraint indicators. Furthermore, three weighting scenarios were constructed—a legal-zone-oriented scenario, an activity-oriented scenario reflecting recent fishing patterns, and a performance-oriented scenario emphasizing catch and economic efficiency—to compare changes in the integrated index under different policy orientations. The results reveal that the coastal waters around Tongyeong–Geoje– Namhae, major islands, and the coastal waters off Busan and Gijang show high scores in some or all of the behavioral, performance, and constraint indicators, and consistently exhibit high integrated index values across all scenarios. These areas are interpreted as strategic core fishing grounds where fishing activity, fishery performance, and legal protection are all concentrated, and thus constitute top-priority candidates for FAPZ designation and management. In contrast, areas with high fishing activity and performance but low scores for legal constraints emerge as “latent protection zones” that are not yet sufficiently reflected in the current legal framework, suggesting candidate areas for future FAPZ or fisheries promotion zones. Areas with high activity but relatively low performance are identified as low-efficiency fishing grounds, indicating potential targets for resource management and spatial restructuring of fishing grounds. EHS analysis further shows that most fishing hotspots belong to “persistent” or “sporadic” types, confirming that fishing activities in the Busan–Gyeongnam region are structurally organized around a limited number of core fishing grounds over time. By structuring the entire procedure—from data collection and preprocessing to indicator calculation, intermediate and integrated indices, and scenario-based analysis—into a single, coherent pipeline, the proposed model provides a reproducible and scalable framework for evaluating FAPZ. This framework can be applied to other coastal regions with different fishery characteristics and can serve as a data-driven decision-support tool for FAPZ designation, conflict management among multiple sea uses, and suitability consultations in MSP implementation. Moreover, when combined with additional layers such as ecological, environmental, and climate-change indicators, the model can be extended into an integrated marine spatial assessment framework that encompasses the fisheries sector, offering both academic and policy-relevant contributions. Keywords: Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), Fisheries Activity Protection Zone (FAPZ), spatial characteristics assessment, spatial analysis, AIS-based vessel activity, catch per unit effort (CPUE)