Statewide Ocean Resource Inventory

The Statewide Ocean Resource Inventory (SORI) is a desktop geographic information system (GIS) designed for use by the marine resource management community. Its objective is to provide accurate and timely information the state needs as it pursues efforts to develop a comprehensive ocean resources management strategy.

SORI was funded by the Florida Coastal Management Program and developed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's research arm, the Florida Marine Research Institute (FMRI). It complements other ocean planning efforts such as the 1997 Ocean Policy Roundtable, and Looking Seaward: Development of a State Ocean Policy for Florida. To truly support ocean resources management, the Coastal and Marine Resource Assessment (CAMRA) group within the Florida Marine Resources Institute organized data around several coastal and ocean management issues. Six major management issues were targeted:

· Fisheries Management

· Law Enforcement

· Disaster Response (i.e., oil spills, hurricanes)

· Marine Commerce (i.e., oil/gas, mineral exploration, shipping)

· Threatened and Endangered Species

· Resource Quality/Critical Habitats

For each of the management issues, an interactive map is designed for "point and click" access to Florida's resource and policy information. Each management issue has a spatial and nonspatial inventory of datasets associated with it. The user can view all datasets associated with a particular management scenario, including relevant statutes, regulations, management plans, and agency contacts.

SORI's geographic information system database can be accessed by anyone with a personal computer and Internet capability. FMRI houses nearly one gigabyte of coastal resource information including spatial data, regulatory and agency contact information, and details about management plans for specific areas in Florida. Users can create custom maps from SORI's website and can also download data for use on local computers and networks using special GIS software.

Information is being assembled in 143 dataset areas, although data collection is not complete for every category. Nonetheless, SORI will be a valuable tool for ocean resource managers and planners, providing these professionals with data and information they can use to make decisions regarding ocean activities, policies, and regulations. As SORI continues to evolve, its creators are striving to make it a flexible, interactive tool that can receive queries and return relevant data in a useful format.