OCEAN USE SURVEY
ABOUT
The top priorities for any BOPP initiative are 1) that it is based in science and 2) it is shaped by community input. In order to understand where in the ocean is important to Bermudians and what activities are undertaken, BOPP conducted an Ocean Use Survey to gather input from stakeholders and the public.
BOPP collected data through this survey to learn how the residents of Bermuda use and value their marine spaces and resources. Respondents, categorized into seven main sectors, identified ocean areas in Bermuda that were important to them and assigned value to those areas of interest. For example, a respondent may have labeled an area as having high value because it was their favorite dive spot or most reliable fishing area. Likewise, a respondent may have labeled an area as having low value because they visit it far less frequently than their other favorite spots. This creates a holistic picture of the people and industries out in Bermuda's waters, so that various points of view are considered.
Survey responses were collated to create heat maps of the data collected. These maps will contribute to the BOPP’s overarching goal of creating a Marine Spatial Plan for the Bermuda EEZ that fosters the sustainable, profitable, and enjoyable use of the Bermuda’s ocean for present and future generations.
FROM SEPTEMBER 2020 TO FEBRUARY 2021:
1,488 Responses
10 Survey Volunteers
70+ Ocean Village Hours
30 radio adverts, 6 newspaper ads, 100 flyers
OCEAN USE SURVEY RESULTS
Sector Interactive Maps
UPDATED OCEAN USE SURVEY: 2022-2023
Bermuda’s Ocean Use Survey was reopened to commercial fishermen from November 2022 to March 2023 to address concerns that complexities of their industry, such as the various gear types used and species targeted, had not been adequately considered in the design of the proposed MPA network.
The new data collected from commercial fishermen represent input from 60% of Bermuda’s full-time fishermen and 29% of Bermuda’s part-time fishermen. The updated survey provided valuable data for consideration during BOPP focus groups and informed the computer model used to design Bermuda’s MPA network.
TECHNICAL PARTNERS
STAKEHOLDER OUTREACH
The survey was open to all Bermudan residents and outreach started in September 2020 with the launch of the online platforms and outreach campaign. BOPP hosted a webinar that included a call for public participation and several organizations distributed the survey to their mailing lists. All Ocean Village stakeholder groups were encouraged to engage and volunteer facilitators reached out to key stakeholder groups. In-person facilitation, outreach phone calls, and paper surveys were offered to over 200 individuals who preferred a non-digital survey platform. Four local Bermudians were assigned the task of reaching out to the fishing sector. A total of 1,488 survey responses were collected across the seven sectors.
VOLUNTEERS
In addition, the survey process was facilitated by a group of dedicated and hard-working volunteers:
Hannah Lampit, Sophie Adams, Whitney Butterfield, Jessica Kehrli, Patrice Ray, Shasta Saunders, Ann Mei Daniels, and many others.
NEXT STEPS
While BOPP endeavored to reach as many people as possible for the survey within our timeline and create heatmaps that represent stakeholder uses, no survey can fully capture the diversity of ocean uses and community inputs. There are several rounds of stakeholder engagement with the next steps of the process to gather more feedback from the community.
The survey results will next be combined with data, such as ecological data, species density, coral health indicators, transportation routes, coastal development indicators, and others. These will be weighed against the Principals, Goals, and Objectives in a modeling process to aid with decision making. This model will create several maps to achieve a variety of objectives, which will help to guide stakeholders, the government, and you to best understand where areas of protection, management, or development will have the most positive impact. The Marine Spatial Planning drafts will be reviewed by the Steering Committee and will need your feedback at that time.
QUESTIONS?
Contact us to share any questions you have - email us at info@BermudaOceanProsperity.org.