A dataset on the geographical distribution, bounds, and reed cover of Hungarian fishponds

Priya Sharma; Mónika Varga; György Kerezsi; Balázs Kajári; Béla Halasi-Kovács; Emese Békefi; Márta Gaál; Gergő Gyalog

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2023.109354

A dataset on the geographical distribution, bounds, and reed cover of Hungarian fishponds

Data Brief. 2023 Jun 28:49:109354. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2023.109354. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Authors

Priya Sharma¹, Mónika Varga², György Kerezsi³, Balázs Kajári³, Béla Halasi-Kovács¹, Emese Békefi¹, Márta Gaál⁴, Gergő Gyalog¹

Affiliations

¹ Research Center for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Institute of Aquaculture and Environmental Safety, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 35 Anna-liget, Szarvas 5540, Hungary.
² Institute of Animal Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 40 Guba, Kaposvar 7400, Hungary.
³ Research Center for Irrigation and Water Management, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Anna-liget 35, Szarvas 5540, Hungary.
⁴ Institute of Agricultural Economics (AKI), 3-5 Zsil u., Budapest 1093, Hungary.

Abstract

This paper presents geospatial datasets, figures, and tables illustrating i) the location and total area of fish farms under cultivation; and ii) the spatiotemporal dynamics of reed cover in Hungarian fishponds generated from the published study of Sharma et al., [1]. Preliminary data for fish farm locations were obtained from the Institute of Agricultural Economics (AKI), followed by significant refinement based on high-resolution Google Earth Pro-imagery. The fishpond area dataset was validated against the values reported in annual statistical reports on aquaculture. In order to map reed vegetation freely available Sentinel-2 imagery (between 2017 and 2021) was accessed from the Copernicus Open Access Hub [2] and emergent macrophyte cover was classified using the NDVI-based threshold values [1]. Scientists, policymakers, and fish farmers can all benefit from such geospatial datasets. It could be used to monitor the extent of fishponds in Hungary and to design farm-level reed management plans to optimize the provision of ecological and production services.

Keywords: Aquaculture; Fishponds; Geographic information system (GIS); Hungary; Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI); Reed cover.