BIOSM 2770 - [Introduction to Marine Conservation Biology]

Summer. 3 credits.

Prerequisite: one semester of college-level biology or equivalent. Next offered 2014-2015. Offered in Maine at Shoals Marine Laboratory on Appledore Island.

R.H. Seeley, H. Weeks.

Marine conservation biology has its roots in efforts to manage and conserve valuable fishery stocks. While there are long-term data sets of harvest and landings, the ecological context of harvest activities is relatively unknown. Consequently, efforts at fisheries conservation are paradoxically and simultaneously data-rich and understanding-poor. This course will challenge students to integrate principles of marine biology and ecology with case studies of successes and failures in resource harvest management, the scientific underpinnings of our understanding, and consideration of changes in marine governance that may hold promise for progress toward sustainability.