TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP JOHN CARVER INN, PLYMOUTH, MA 30 MARCH - 2 APRIL, 1998 Geographic Information System (GIS) Analysis Of Fish Health In The Pocomoke River And Sound, Chesapeake Bay. Julie S. Nace, Kimberly A. Insley, Gary F. Smith Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service, Cooperative Oxford Laboratory, Mapping and Analysis Project, 904 S. Morris Street, Oxford, Maryland 21654 This presentation illustrates an application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to portray relevant information concerning fish lesion incidences in the Pocomoke River and the surrounding region of the Chesapeake Bay in the summer of 1997. These episodic fish lesion and fish kill events have led to much speculation about the cause and effect relationships and linkages of toxic dinoflagellates to human health issues. Part of the difficulty in understanding these events is the separation of facts and documented data from speculation. We are going to report key documented events and the fisheries data in a spatial context using a GIS format. Using this approach, we will be able to better understand what occurred in the Pocomoke River in 1997, and set the stage for assessments that would begin in early spring of 1998. Data used in this analysis includes various geophysical databases, fish health and fish kill databases, as well as water quality information.   Return to 23rd Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page