Course Description:

THE COURSE IS TAUGHT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF AKUREYRI

The course offers a detailed overview of fisheries in selected ecosystems. This includes the North Atlantic, North Pacific and upwelling regions. The lectures will include overviews for selected issues for each region, such as on the local oceanography, the main species targeted and the main fishing gears in use. Historical development of the fisheries, as well as how fish resources are managed. The course will also examine the growth of the global seafood sector and the impact that it has been having on making the seafood marketplace more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. Other related topics are: Supply of seafood products and demographics. Fisheries by continent and major fishing nations. Global aquaculture. Processing methods and products from fisheries and aquaculture. Globalization and international companies in fisheries. The modern industrial fisheries vs fisheries in the developing world. Course assessment: Thesis, presentation, poster and participation in discussion groups.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this course, learners will be able to:

Examine the economically most important aquatic organisms in the environments under consideration;
Gather information on and analyse the current stock status and landings of the most important commercial species;
Contrast and critically analyse the trends in marine utilization (overall value chain) in each region;
Compare fisheries management structures by the largest fishing nations
Access data on global catch and markets, process and analyse the data in a spreadsheet.
Collaborate efficiently in an international group in an online environment.