Science Master's Program: Ecosystem Approaches to Fishery Management

University Of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, Fairbanks AK

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Sustainable Ecosystem-Based Management of Living Marine Resources (SELMR) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) supports the education of future leaders in the ecosystem-based sustainable stewardship of living marine resources. This interdisciplinary Science Master?s Program (SMP) provides interdisciplinary training in the fundamental principals and analytic tools of fisheries science, oceanography, ecology, economics, management, marine policy, and anthropology using courses and seminars which highlight limitations of traditional management paradigms and challenge students to consider innovative approaches to real-world problems. Classroom instruction is coupled with internship and research experiences that prepare graduates for employment in agencies and organizations where they will fill the need for experts who can connect science with broad environmental, social, and economic considerations. Participation of underrepresented people will be encouraged by recruiting women and members of minorities, especially Alaska Natives. Ecosystem-based management of living marine resources, as required under modern law and policy, has broad societal impacts. Alaska is an ideal setting for exploring these impacts and evaluating alternative management strategies because the waters off Alaska account for a majority of U.S. fish harvests and because stocks of fish and marine mammals off Alaska, while largely healthy, include stocks that are endangered. Utilization of these stocks dates back over 10,000 years and even now ranges from small-scale subsistence and artisanal harvests to technologically advanced industrial-scale fisheries. SELMR graduates will be well-prepared to devise ecosystem-based solutions to critical research and stewardship questions in the sustainable use of living marine resources, skills that are critically needed in today's society.