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ZO5806: FISHERIES SCIENCE (2018-2019)

Last modified: 22 May 2019 17:07


Course Overview

The course, which includes a significant contribution from Marine Scotland’s Science’s Marine Laboratory Aberdeen, introduces students to the essential elements of fisheries science. It consists of three main sections: fishing technology and behaviour, fishery independent methods, and stock assessment techniques. Ultimately it will equip students with the basic knowledge and skills required to assess the abundance and distribution of fish and to understand key elements of the provision of advice for fisheries management.

Course Details

Study Type Postgraduate Level 5
Term Second Term Credit Points 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits)
Campus Old Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Paul Fernandes

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

None.

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

The course, which includes a significant contribution from Marine Scotland’s Science’s Marine Laboratory Aberdeen, introduces students to the essential elements of fisheries science. It consists of three main sections: fishing technology and behaviour, fishery independent methods, and stock assessment techniques. Ultimately it will equip students with the basic knowledge and skills required to assess the abundance and distribution of fish and to understand key elements of the provision of advice for fisheries management.

The first part covers the various types of fishing methods, as well as measurement and observation in fishing gear experiments. Various behavioural concepts are covered including swimming and fish sensory systems. The concept of selectivity is described in theoretical detail and is then followed by a description of the various selectivity techniques and a review of unaccounted mortality.

The second part covers fishery independent (survey) methods, with emphasis on the acoustic survey technique. Lectures are given on each of the main survey methods: acoustic, trawl, larvae, egg and TV surveys. The general design concept, relating to all types of survey, is addressed in a lecture and illustrated through a practical as applied to acoustic surveys. Particular attention is then given to the more complex acoustic survey technique. Lectures cover the physics of sound, acoustic instruments, the acoustic properties of fish and methods of biomass estimation. An acoustic survey data analysis lecture is followed by a practical which details the procedures from acoustic measurement to a global estimate of abundance. Lectures are also given covering survey statistics common to all methods, including one on geostatistics.

The final part covers stock assessment introducing students to ideas about analysing fisheries data and applying both classic and modern fisheries science models. The course is based on a series of computer-based practicals which deal with three main concepts: cohort analysis using fisheries data, separable analysis using survey data, and length-based stock assessment. Extensive use will be made of both Excel spreadsheets and (for the first two concepts) the R programming language.


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

Two individual lab reports (50% each)

Resit: Resubmission of failed individual elements of continuous assessment

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Feedback

Formative feedback during practical, individualised written feedback on submission

Course Learning Outcomes

None.

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