Seasketch
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SeaSketch is a platform for collaborative ocean GeoDesign. You may view a 5 minute demonstration of SeaSketch in English or with Spanish subtitles.
Collaboration software for marine spatial planning, developed at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California Santa Barbara. Using SeaSketch, anyone with a web browser and Internet connection may design management plans, including marine protected areas, transportation zones, renewable energy sites, and more. Read an article about SeaSketch here. Extending ou
04/30/2026
Ocean Use Surveys can be incredibly powerful when done well. We’ve been working with Marés do Norte Project in Brazil () to show just how actionable they can be using SeaSketch.
In the Marés do Norte Ocean Use Survey, thousands of ocean users mapped where they fish, research, travel, and work along the northern coast. That’s powerful on its own but the real question is:
What happens when you actually draw a plan?
In this example, a simple zoning scenario (yellow box) is overlaid on the survey data. These are draft reports but, even at this stage, the results are immediately informative:
* 644 people in the survey use the ocean within this plan area
* That’s 5.1% of all respondents, across 3 states and 19 cities
* Artisanal fishers are the largest group affected
* Research users are disproportionately impacted (16.8%)
* Some places, like São José de Ribamar, see over 60% of users affected by this hypothetical zoning scenario
This is where Ocean Use Surveys really deliver value for marine spatial planning.
Not just: “Where do people use the ocean?”
But: “Who is affected by this decision - and how much?”
That shift enables more transparent, evidence-based conversations about tradeoffs. These are early results, but the direction is clear.
Proud of the work happening in the North Brazilian coast and excited about where this goes next.
Everyone’s talking about AI in Marine Spatial Planning (MSP). We just built something real in SeaSketch (www.seasketch.org).
SeaSketch now includes an AI Cartographer that doesn’t just style your data — it understands it. In this demo, I drop in 5 raw datasets (GeoJSON + Shapefiles). In under 30 seconds, SeaSketch:
* Interprets the data schema
* Identifies field types and meaning
* Chooses appropriate symbology
* Generates labels, popups, and attribution
What used to take an hour now takes seconds. Now imagine onboarding an entire country’s data like this. This is how we accelerate marine spatial planning.
SeaSketch is Free and Open Source.
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03/26/2026
Planning to protect Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction? SeaSketch can help you determine whether a prospective Marine Protected Area (MPA) on the high seas overlaps with priority areas for conservation, species on the IUCN Red List, Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs), geomorphological features, fishing intensity and more.
https://seasketch.org/bbnj
03/25/2026
Making solid progress toward a comprehensive Marine Spatial Plan for the territorial seas of Kosrae!
03/25/2026
Mapping artisanal fishing areas in Southern Brazil!
12/08/2025
Great to see SeaSketch in action in Vanuatu!
11/20/2025
Fantastic work!
11/05/2025
It was a real pleasure working in Kosrae this week where members of the MSP Working Group made progress toward developing a plan for marine protected areas, renewable energy and aquaculture sites within state waters. You can check out our progress in https://www.seasketch.org/fsm/app/forums/341
08/25/2025
Feels good to bring SeaSketch to another corner of Brazil as we launch the largest Ocean Use Survey we have ever seen.
08/14/2025
We are very excited to support Blue Prosperity Micronesia!
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
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