Description

This course is a survey of basic issues and concepts in aquaculture and regional fish farming techniques (i.e. salmon, cod). The major theme will be to explore the relationship(s) (i.e. biological, cultural, political, and economic) between industrial agriculture and aquaculture practices, using integrated case studies from local to global, historical to contemporary perspectives. A central issue will be to explore the environmental and social significance of aquaculture. We will also consider specific issues such as: the organization of production, distribution, and consumption; environmental and cultural sustainability; the cause of growth and economic change; the significance of food production, capitalism, and industrialization, and the use of different forms of energy, and labor; and most recently, economic globalization and industrial fish farming practices.

Finally, we will evaluate different approaches to understanding aquaculture and regional fish farming techniques and make cross-cultural comparisons to assess the human-environmental effectiveness of each type of economic development.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• understand of how fish farm is operated
• explain what state-of-the-art farming/breeding programs are used
• explain what common constrains are involved in farming fish
• outline main regulations and typical environmental monitoring schemes

Assessment

TBA

Instructor

Benedict J. Colombi, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of the American Indian Studies Graduate Interdisciplinary Program, the School of Anthropology, and the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Arizona. He also holds a faculty appointment in the newly formed, Institute of the Environment, a center for disciplinary and interdisciplinary environmental and climate change research. He is Past Program Chair of the American Anthropological Association, Anthropology & Environment section, a 2010-11 Faculty Fellow with the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, and a Fellow with The Society for Applied Anthropology. His area of specialization lies at the intersection of Indigenous resource management, sustainability, and globalization. Recent publications include (Colombi and Brooks 2012), Keystone Nations: Indigenous Peoples and Salmon across the North Pacific (Advanced Seminar Series, School for Advanced Research) and a number of articles and chapters based on research with the Nez Perce Tribe (Nimiipuu) about large dams, salmon, and the regional economy in the Columbia River basin. He also pursues interests in expanding his research to include Southwestern Indigenous people and watersheds; complimented with field studies of Indigenous resources/management in Russia, Canada, Norway, Iceland, Tasmania, Chile, and the United States.

Guest lecturer

Ólafur I. Sigurgeirsson, Assistant Professor in Aquaculture at Hólar University College.

Further reading