Paper Title
Multi Criteria Decision Making For Identification Of Optimal Location For Aquaculture Development

Abstract
Identification of optimal location (aquasites) is based on the evaluation of number of sites in terms of number of criteria. In this study, twenty seven sub-criteria were categorized into five broad heads of evaluation criteria such as water (9 sub-criteria), soil (7 sub-criteria), support (4 sub-criteria), infrastructure (5 sub-criteria), and risk factor (2 sub-criteria). The priority weights for sub-criteria within the evaluation criteria under consideration were determined using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and subsequently, these weights were used for identifying the optimal location from a number of alternative locales based on the relative closeness values and ranks assigned to them using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method. Finally, the combination of TOPSIS and AHP methods constituted the methodology for identification of optimal location for aquaculture farming development. A case study application of identification of optimal location in Kalla mandal, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India, was used to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method. Optimal Location; Aquaculture