2023-2024 Cal Poly Humboldt Catalog 
    
    Oct 07, 2024  
2023-2024 Cal Poly Humboldt Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Fisheries Biology, Aquaculture Concentration, B.S.


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The overall goal of the Fisheries Biology Program is to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and motivation required to ensure the conservation of fish and aquatic resources that are faced with increasing societal demands and increasing loss of habitat. We stress development of a field-based understanding of the relationships between freshwater and marine fishes and the habitats upon which they depend, but our program is broad enough to provide specialized training in fish population dynamics and fishery management, restoration ecology, systematics, marine and freshwater aquaculture, fish health management, water pollution biology, and wastewater utilization. Each of these areas has its own important role to play in the overall conservation of fish resources.

Fisheries Biology students have on-campus facilities for hands-on studies: a recirculating freshwater fish hatchery, rearing ponds, spawning pens, and modern laboratories for study of fish genetics, pathology, taxonomy, ecology, and age and growth. Also on campus is the California Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, supported by both state and federal government, and a large fish museum collection.

Off campus, students take classes and carry out research projects at the university’s marine laboratory in Trinidad, about 12 miles north of campus. A 90’ university-owned ocean-going vessel, docked in Eureka, is available for classes and for faculty and graduate student research in nearshore ocean waters. Numerous small boats and a specialized electrofishing boat are available for instruction and research in local bays, lagoons and estuaries.

Our graduates may qualify for certification by the American Fisheries Society as Associate Fisheries Scientists, and many continue their education after Cal Poly Humboldt, receiving M.S. or Ph.D. degrees in fisheries biology or other closely related fields.

Possible careers: aquarium curator, aquatic biologist, biological technician, environmental specialist, fish culturist, fish health manager, fisheries biologist, fisheries consultant, fisheries geneticist, fisheries modeler, fisheries statistician, hydrologist, museum curator, reservoir manager, restoration ecologist, sewage treatment water analyst, water quality advisor.

Preparation: We recommend that high school students interested in fisheries biology take as many challenging biology, chemistry, mathematics, and computer classes as possible, and that they also stress oral and written communications.  

Requirements for the Bachelor’s Degree


A bachelor’s degree requires a total of 120 units. Students must fulfill General Education & All-University Requirements , residency, unit, and GPA requirements as outlined in the Bachelor’s Degree Requirements . This major includes a Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) certified course.

Requirements for the Major (71-75 Units)


The Upper Division Area B General Education requirement is met by the coursework within the Fisheries Biology major.



  

Aquaculture Concentration Courses (22 Units)


Complete the following concentration specific courses.

Approved Electives


Complete 9 units, including at least two courses from the following list. General Education classes may not be used as approved electives. Alternative sets of approved electives may be approved under exceptional circumstances. Discuss with your advisor.

Program Learning Outcomes


Program Learning Outcomes identify what a student will learn or be able to do upon completion of their program.

  1. Fish ecology skills: Students will be able to describe how physical and biological factors of aquatic ecosystems determine the distribution and abundance of fish populations and pose testable hypotheses and experiments to identify specific factors that constrain population growth or distribution.
  2. Fisheries techniques skills: Students will be able to select and implement basic data collection protocols appropriate for characterizing status of fish communities or cultured populations, including assessment of species composition, abundance, health, and population structure (age, size, genetic).
  3. Communication skills: Students will be able to convey scientific concepts in written, oral and visual communication formats, including following basic guidelines for format and structure of scientific reports, papers or presentations.
  4. Quantitative skills: Students will be able to describe and explain how fish production, abundance, and fisheries management problems can be expressed as mathematical/numeric/statistical models, produce useful tabular and graphical summaries of quantitative data, and conduct simple tests of statistical hypotheses.
  5. Fisheries management skills: Students will be able to describe the scientific, legal, political, and social factors that determine goals for fisheries management, culture, and conservation, and to identify appropriate management strategies that can be used to achieve these goals.
  6. Critical thinking skills: Students will be able critically evaluate their own fisheries work as well as fisheries data, information and conclusions reported in published peer-reviewed literature, unpublished technical reports, and popular media.

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