El-Gayar, Omar F.2009-07-152009-07-151995http://hdl.handle.net/10125/9226Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1995.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 201-208).Microfiche.xv, 208 leaves, bound ill., col. maps 29 cmNowadays, aquaculture development is considered as a viable source for providing high quality cheap protein, particularly for developing countries where protein shortage already exists. Complexities in such development planning can be difficult without the aid of modern decision-making technologies such as decision support systems (DSS). DSS are already in wide use in the business and manufacturing sectors. However, their use in agriculture is limited and their use in aquaculture is almost nonexistent, The objective of this work is to design and implement a decision support system that would systematically aid the decision maker or the planner in making choices regarding the development planning of the aquaculture industry for a given region. Moreover, due to the lack of multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) models for regional planning for aquaculture development, it is also the objective of this work to develop such models. The system is composed of three main components: a model base containing all relevant models which are essentially multiple objective in nature, a data base containing all relevant data, and a dialog component providing a user interface to the other two primary components of the system. The MCDM model representing the core of the modeling component seeks the optimal allocation of resources and activity levels that would strike an acceptable balance among the various developmental goals under consideration subject to resource constraints, market constraints, and pollution constraints. To accommodate different decision situations. three different MCDM solution techniques are implemented, namely, multiple objective programming (MOP), compromise programming (CP), and weighted goal programming (WOP). The system allows the planner to specify the model by selecting the developmental goals, the decision variables (activities), and the constraints to be considered in the model. The system, which generates a user-specified model based on the data stored in the database, would answer questions such as, what species to grow? what technology to use? how much to grow of each species and/or technology? The recommended policy is generated in both text and graphics formats for ease of reference. Finally, the applicability of the prototype system is demonstrated through applying it to a case study from Egypt.en-USAll UHM dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.Decision support systemsAquaculture -- Decision making -- Data processingThesis