Evaluation of the implementation of marine functional zoning in China based on the PSR-AHP model

A comprehensive evaluation of marine functional zoning (MFZ) implementation has aided in further strengthening marine comprehensive management. This evaluation is significant for summarizing the implementation experience, zoning establishment improvement and perfecting the zoning system. In this study, the MFZ evaluation index system, which includes three first-level indicators, 7 s-level indexes, and 23 third-level indexes, was arranged based on the systematic nature and hierarchy of the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) analysis framework involving pressure (P), state (S) and response (R). The Delphi and AHP (analytic hierarchy process) methods were used to determine the weight of each evaluation index. The results revealed that the status index has the greatest weight, indicating that zoning implementation benefits and sea use efficiency are important in the MFZ implementation evaluation standard. Then, the PSR-AHP model was constructed and applied first to MFZ evaluation in China. The MFZ comprehensive evaluation value, calculated using the geometric average method, was 0.79 (medium), which revealed that the zoning implementation achieves the desired objectives. However, MFZ implementation evaluation requires further strengthening. Subsequently, suggestions were made to strengthen the evaluation theories and research methods. Simultaneously, the MFZ evaluation system was established in this paper to provide new ideas for MFZ implementation evaluation and management.