If Cod Forsake Us, What Shall We Hold?: The Science And Politics of Managing Natural Resources

Richard L. Haedrich

Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
March 24 - May 12, 2004 (No class on May 5)
D.O.C. House

More than 250 years ago, the Norwegian poet Peter Daas wondered what would become of Nordland's coastal people if the cod were to vanish. Today, fisheries worldwide are in crisis and the question is more relevant and poignant than ever. With a focus on the great marine fisheries, we examine the role of environmental science in resource management. Subjects for discussion include ocean productivity, ecosystem structure, ecology of high seas fishes, scientific surveys, fishery data, and options in the wake of global fisheries collapses (e.g. deep-sea fisheries, aquaculture). A comparative approach emphasizes Newfoundland and its fishery — history, culture, collapse and human and environmental impacts. Our theme questions: How well do we understand the ecology of marine systems? What happens when ecological knowledge is at odds with socio-economic needs? Are modern fisheries sustainable? Reading and lectures, class discussion and a possible class project, augmented with videos.

Class is limited to 20 members.

Richard Haedrich is an ichthyologist and biological oceanographer. His degrees are from Harvard where he worked at the Museum of Comparative Zoology on the evolutionary relationships of oceanic fishes. He spent a year in Denmark as a Fulbright Fellow, and in1966 began as a research scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. In 1979, he joined Memorial University of Newfoundland where he has been a Professor in Biology and Ocean Sciences as well as Director of the Ocean Sciences Centre. In 1999 he was appointed to the rank of University Research Professor. His main interests concern determinants of structure in marine communities, oceanic biogeography, and the dynamics of fisheries ecosystems. With Nigel Merrett of the Natural History Museum, London, he is co-author of the 1997 book Deep-Sea Fish and Fisheries.