Description
Conservation and management of marine biological and fishery resources are treated with an interdisciplinary focus. Some of the concepts, goals, and tools of marine resource conservation include: marine protected areas, endangered species, sustainable yields and co-management. These are bound together by human dimension commonalities analyzed as cultural, ethical, aesthetic, economic, and political factors. Specific methods used to implement resource conservation targets and objectives include the use of risk analysis models to examine decision making in the areas of population harvesting, conservation and management. Strategies and policy decisions are examined for issues such as small-scale fisheries and sustainable ecotourism. This class focuses on social science aspects and the human dimensions in natural and in particular marine resources manangement.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- understand the concepts of risk and uncertainty in decision making, and the human dimension elements that shape coastal and marine management
- critically analyze institutions responsible for resource management, as well as articles from the literature
- articulate positions on class topics and to defend them in class discussion
