Your new experience awaits. Try the new design now and help us make it even better

METHODS article

Front. Mar. Sci.

Sec. Marine Fisheries, Aquaculture and Living Resources

GIS for aquatic animal health management: a framework for tailored project development

Provisionally accepted
Federica SbettegaFederica Sbettega1Giorgia RiuzziGiorgia Riuzzi2*Rodrigo MacarioRodrigo Macario1Matteo MazzucatoMatteo Mazzucato1Eleonora FranzagoEleonora Franzago1Marta Eichemberger UmmusMarta Eichemberger Ummus3Patricia Oliveira Maciel-HondaPatricia Oliveira Maciel-Honda3Severino SegatoSeverino Segato2Nicola FerreNicola Ferre1
  • 1Laboratory of Epidemiology, Services and Research in Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Legnaro, Italy
  • 2Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padova, Legnaro, Italy
  • 3Fisheries and Aquaculture Center, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), Palmas, Brazil

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Select one of your emails

You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:

Notify me on publication

Please enter your email address:

If you already have an account, please login

You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here

Although Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have proved to be reliable tools for animal health management, their implementations in the aquatic animal health (AAH) domain are scarce, likely because they require expertise in GIS technologies, the specific characteristics of aquatic environments, and epidemiology. Considering the lack of GIS approaches tailored to AAH, this study presents a framework conceived to guide GIS users through the development of GIS operative designs for disease surveillance and response. Its practical application and actual accessibility within two case studies in an Italian marine environment and in a Brazilian freshwater aquaculture site were investigated. The main take-home message emerging from both the framework and its applications is the key importance of project planning in GIS development. Without a structured planning phase, GIS projects are likely to produce inconsistent, incomplete, or unsustainable outcomes. The framework accompanies GIS users, including those with little GIS knowledge, through all the stages of GIS project development, encouraging them to include the fundamental planning elements based on the principles of applicability, sustainability, appropriateness and opportunity of implementation. However, the framework must be used consciously, not as rigid instructions but, rather, as a tool that provides orientation to navigate GIS planning in the complex aquatic contexts.

Keywords: Aquatic animal health, Animal health management, GIS project development, framework, Freshwater environment, marine environment, Case studies

Received: 16 Jul 2025; Accepted: 03 Dec 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Sbettega, Riuzzi, Macario, Mazzucato, Franzago, Eichemberger Ummus, Oliveira Maciel-Honda, Segato and Ferre. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Giorgia Riuzzi

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material