FISH 504

Quantitative Analysis of Fisheries 1

Credit Value

3 credits

Connect to
UBC Calendar

Description

This course provides an introduction to the quantitative theories of fishery dynamics, and the use of various types of analytical methods for fishery assessment. Lectures are supplemented with tutorial sessions, mainly using Microsoft Excel, where students first work on set problems in class, followed by extended analyses to consolidate understanding and familiarity with methods of analysis. Topics covered include: mathematical models to represent population dynamics, fish growth, mortality and recruitment; simple bio-economic and spatial models of fishery and fish population behaviors; methods to estimate parameters in fisheries models using biological data, fishery data, fishery-independent data, and mark-recapture data; and different stock assessment methods including, in-season depletion methods, the surplus production methods, delay-difference models, virtual population analysis, statistical catch-at-age analysis. Microsoft Excel data analysis tools including Solver, Data Analysis Tools and the Data Table function will be applied extensively in the tutorial sessions.

Required software and textbooks include: Fisheries Ecology and Management by Walters and Martell and Quantitative Fisheries Stock Assessment: Choice, Dynamics and Uncertainty by Ray Hilborn and Carl Walters. Chapman and Hall. Check with the course instructor regarding the use of MS Excel.


Course Instructor

Dr. Murdoch McAllister