Department of Marine Science | Academics | Course Offerings | MAR 603 Syllabus | Fisheries Oceanography

MAR 603: Fisheries Oceanography
Fall Semester, 2004
Wednesday, 1300 – 1550
Bldg. 1022, Room 101

Course Description:

In the past, there has been a profound gap between oceanographers who are concerned with gas or nutrient exchange processes, or the spatial dynamics and processes of water bodies and plankton, and fisheries scientists who are more concerned with biology of fishes, population dynamics, and recruitment or predator-prey relationships. Neither approach has produced satisfactory results in predicting or describing the effects on fisheries resources that might occur through the combined impact of changes in environmental conditions and increased and enhanced fishing activities. The spatial and temporal scales of ocean and fish processes are different and their inter-meshing has to be understood before we can make progress toward understanding marine ecosystem sciences from a holistic perspective. Fisheries oceanography combines elements of both oceanography and fisheries approaches to the understanding of this dynamic and multidisciplinary field of science.

The objective of this course is to provide students with a basic understanding of fisheries oceanography and its multidisciplinary nature so that students can begin to appreciate the need for a holistic approach to addressing these complex sets of issues. We will accomplish this through a combination of lectures that will examine various elements of fisheries oceanography followed by the discussion of a series of case studies where both fisheries and oceanographic information was necessary to explain field and catch observations. Students will then be asked to make an oral presentation on some aspect of fisheries oceanography and submit a written, research-based, term paper upon which the oral presentation will be based. This will be followed by a written take home final examination to complete the course requirements. My approach to this course will involve student participation in discussion of the subject material. It is often conducive to the learning process if student involvement in discussions is a primary element of a course. By exploring these topics together, we will all gain a greater level of understanding of this complex interdisciplinary field of science.

The term paper and presentation topic must involve some issue related to the material we have discussed in class. It may use examples and results from research that was not discussed in class, but must be related to some aspect of fisheries oceanography addressed in this course. The topic for the perm paper must be approved by Wednesday, October 13. Failure to get the topic approved by this date will result in a 10% reduction in your paper/presentation score. There is no limit to how long your paper should be. It should be sufficiently long to cover the topic in an intelligent and comprehensive manner. The oral presentation of the paper should be about 30 – 45 minutes in length and complete enough so that your fellow classmates will be able to easily follow and assimilate the material you present. You should try to be informative and clear in your presentation. After the body of your talk, we will discuss the material presented, with the speaker as the discussion leader. Participation in these discussions is an important aspect of this course. Your level of participation will be considered in determining your course grade.

The Take Home Final Examination for this class will include short essay questions that address various aspects of the material we covered over the course of the semester. Prior to Final Examination Week, I will provide a list of approximately 10 potential questions and you will be asked to answer 3 of these questions for the take home exam (my choice). The exam will be open book/notes/resources.

Grading for this course will be based on the following breakdown:

Discussion Participation	30%
Oral Presentation/Term Paper	30%
Final Examination	40%

Text:

Fisheries Oceanography: An integrative Approach to Fisheries Ecology and Management.
P. J. Harrison and T. R. Parson, eds.
ISBN 0-632-05566-9
Blackwell Science

A second book that may help you to explore Fisheries Oceanography from a similar perspective as our text is:

Reinventing Fisheries Management
T. J. Pitcher, P. J. B. Hart and D. Pauley, eds.
ISBN 0-7923-5777-9
Kluwer Academic Publishers

Material from this second text will be used for some supplemental reading – but it is not a required text.

Much of the lecture material for this class will be based on the contents of this book. However, papers from the scientific literature may be assigned to supplement the material presented in the text. The Case Studies lectures may be supported entirely by readings from the literature. I will generally provide references for reading materials at least 1 week in advance.

I will be available, as needed, to meet with students outside of class hours. Since some of you may have difficulty in meeting with me at some established set of office hours, I will be generally available throughout the week. It will be best for you to contact me by e-mail or by phone to make an appointment for us to meet. We can have this meeting over the phone or in my office. I may also be able to help you through an exchange of e-mails.

Phone: 228-688-1174
e-mail: Donald.Redalje@usm.edu

If a student has a disability that qualifies under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and requires accommodations, he/she should contact the Office for Disability Accommodations (ODA) for information on appropriate policies and procedures. Disabilities covered by ADA may include learning, psychiatric, physical impairments, or chronic health disorders. Students should contact ODA if they are not certain whether a medical condition/disability qualifies. Box 8568; Telephone (601) 266-5024; TTY (601) 266-6837; Fax (601) 266-6035.

MAR 603 Lecture Topics and Schedule

Date	Lecture
8/25	Course organization; DVD: Empty Oceans – Empty Nets; Introduction to Fisheries Oceanography (Ch. 1)
9/1	Pelagic Fish Early Life History: CalCOFI Overview; FOCI Approach (Ch. 2)
9/8	Pelagic Salmon Migrations in a Dynamic Ocean (Ch. 3)
9/15	Spatial and Temporal Scales of Genetic Variability in Marine and Anadromous Species: Implications for Fisheries Oceanography (Ch. 4)
9/22	Fisheries Climatology: Understanding Decadal Scale Processes That Naturally Regulate British Columbia Fish Populations (Ch. 5)
9/28	Satellite Remote Sensing: An Important Tool in Fisheries Oceanography (Ch. 6)
10/6	Aquatic Ecosystems: Properties and Models (Ch. 7)
10/13	The Past, Present and Future of Fisheries Oceanography: Refashioning a Responsible Fisheries Science (Ch. 8, Part 1, through Section 8.6)
10/20	The Past, Present and Future of Fisheries Oceanography: Refashioning a Responsible Fisheries Science (Ch. 8, Part 2, Section 8.7 to the end)
10/27	Reinventing Fisheries Management – New Policies, New Thinking (Supplemental Reading – to be assigned)
11/3	Case Studies: GLOBEC and the Georges Bank Study (literature)
11/10	Case Studies: Climate Change and Fisheries – Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea (literature)
11/17	Case Studies: California Current, Peruvian Upwelling, Gulf of Mexico (literature)
11/24	Student Presentations; Long list of potential take home exam questions provided.
12/1	Student Presentations
12/8	Student Presentations; Take Home Exam Questions given to class.
12/15	Take Home Final Examination Due no later than 1300. Exam answers may be sent electronically.

Dept. of Marine Science | Academics | Course Offerings | MAR 603 Syllabus | Fisheries Oceanography

Last modified: November 17, 2004 3:57 PM | The University of Southern Mississippi | Comments & Questions
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