FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS

Why is the Ocean Use Survey important?

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The Blue Prosperity Micronesia Ocean Use Survey will help policymakers understand how people use the ocean across Yap so they can accurately account for different activities like fishing, diving, shipping, tourism, surfing, mariculture, etc. in current and future planning processes. The information from the survey will help make data-backed decisions.

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It is important to hear from as many stakeholders as possible to ensure that the needs and priorities submitted are representative of the wider population. This information will feed into the future Yap Marine Spatial Plan. Your input through the Ocean Use Survey will help shape the future ocean management of Yap.

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Who should take the survey?

Anyone who uses the ocean should take the survey. Whether you are a fisherman, or someone who likes to swim for exercise, we want to hear from you! Planning for the future of the ocean should be inclusive and representative of all Micronesians.

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The BPM Ocean Use Survey in Yap identifies 7 main stakeholder sectors:

• ​Aquaculture and Mariculture

• Community Recreational Use

• Cultural Use

• Construction and Infrastructure

• Fishing

• Maritime Activity

• Tourism

How will it be used?​

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The survey will be used to inform the future Yap Marine Spatial Plan. The results will be analyzed to produce several heat maps showing where and how different sectors are using the ocean.
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Individual responses and locations will remain private.

How do you take the survey?

​A team of survey enumerators will visit all 10 municipalities in Yap proper from August through October 2024:

• Weloy

• Tomil

• Rumung

• Map

• Gagil

• Fanif

• Rull

• Gilman

• Kanifay

• Dalipebinaw

Community members will be informed when the BPM Ocean Use Survey team plans to visit their municipality.

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How do the survey tools work?

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To provide input that will inform ocean planning, you can select the ocean use sector you associate with, draw shapes in locations they utilize, and assign a point value for each shape.

You can also provide general comments to specify how much you value a certain area and why you might value or use a certain area. The responses collected from these surveys are submitted anonymously and used to produce heat maps that serve as a comprehensive baseline representation of how and where Micronesians use the ocean space.

The digital survey tools gather ocean use data and priorities to ensure that stakeholder uses are included in ocean planning.

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What does the data/heatmap look like? Will it be released to the public?​

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Click here to view the heatmaps that were produced from the BPM Ocean Use Survey in Kosrae.
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The resulting heatmaps will be shared with the public, but individual survey answers are anonymous.

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How will this benefit communities?

This survey gives each ocean user the opportunity to provide input that will shape the future Marine Spatial Plans for Yap State and the FSM. By providing input, your priorities and your community will be represented. The final Marine Spatial Plan will zone areas around the FSM for different activities like fishing, shipping, and protected areas.

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What other countries have gone through this process?

Many countries have gone through this process before!

Click here to view case studies from other countries.