Boating Tourism and Fishing Interactions: A Social Network Analysis Using AIS Data

Boating tourism in coastal-maritime areas often overlaps spatially and temporally with other economic activities, such as fishing, leading to complex interactions. These interactions can create opportunities for positive cooperation or generate conflicts that pressure natural resources and stakeholders. This study focuses on the interplay between maritime-tourism activities and fishing in the south of Portugal, using a social network analysis (SNA) approach based on automatic identification system (AIS) data to evaluate spatial and temporal patterns. The findings reveal that tourism activities dominate zones closer to the coast, with intermediate areas serving as shared spaces where interactions are most likely to occur.