Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland

A new course being offered under the Marine Institute’s (MI) Master of Marine Studies (Fisheries Resource Management) (MMS(FRM)) program will help students better understand fisheries in northern waters of the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 

Current Issues in Sustainable Fisheries – Sustainable Northern Fisheries (MSTM 6009) is a thirteen week elective which will feature lectures from local and international experts and will allow students to explore northern oceanography, fisheries ecosystems, historical and contemporary fishing activities, fisheries management and sustainability initiatives. 

“It is important that our graduates have a broad understanding of a variety of marine ecosystems,” said Keith Rideout, Academic Director MMS (FRM) with MI’s School of Fisheries. “As our focus on the North continues to grow, this course will equip students with important knowledge around the unique conditions and perspectives of various northern fisheries and the economic, social, and biological factors affecting them.” 

Offered online, the course opens the door for global discussion and collaboration on topics such as the most economically important aquatic organisms in the northern environments, current stock status and landings of key commercial species, trends in marine use (overall value chain) and fisheries management structures. 

The course has been developed in partnership with a number of institutions who will also be part of the course delivery, including the University of Alaska (Anchorage, USA), the University of Akureyri (Iceland), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Faroe Islands), the University of Tromsø (Norway) and Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland). Students participating in the inaugural offering of this course are from Akureyri, MI and Tromsø. Upon successful completion of the course, students will receive a Memorial University credit and in the case of the non-Memorial students, will transfer credits to their home institution and program.

The Master of Marine Studies (Fisheries Resource Management) is a multidisciplinary program that provides graduate students with an understanding of biology, economics and business, as well as fisheries policy and planning. While focused primarily on the North Atlantic, the program also deals with major world fisheries as well as quantitative assessment methods. 

To find out more about the program, please visit the FRM website.