A Fuzzy Rule-Based Model for Artificial Reef Placement Related to Managing Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) Ecosystems in Alabama Waters

A rough set theory model utilising fuzzy sets was developed to investigate artificial reef placement based on fish ecosystem components. The model incorporates consumption estimates and presumed foraging behavior to provide a rule-based approach to determine how far apart artificial reefs must be placed to eliminate density-dependent competition for prey resources. Simulation of the ecosystem parameters and potential reef distances as triangularly defined fuzzy sets generates input into the rules. Then, based upon the strength of belief in a rule, the artificial reef placement location can be accepted or rejected as being conducive to consumption at the reef and foraging behaviour of the species. Ease of utilisation of the model is highlighted by spreadsheet application to a red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) ecosystem in Gulf of Mexico waters off the coastal shelf of Alabama. Implications exist for similar applications to other ecosystems and different fish species. Further applications are relevant beyond fish management when viewed as a general managerial decision-making process involving fuzzy sets and simulation.