FISH 424, Spring
Biology and Culture of Aquatic Organisms: Sustainability and the Environment

Instructor:

Dr. Carolyn Friedman
222B FSH (Fisheries Sciences Bldg.)
206-543-9519
carolynf@u.washington.edu

TA:

Kristi Straus
234 FSH
206-616-6341
kmstraus@u.washington.edu

Disability Accommodations:

If you would like to request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz (206-543-8924 (V/TTY).  If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to the instructor so that we can discuss the accommodations you might need for the class. For me information, see:
http://fish.washington.edu/classes/integrity_disability.html

Academic Integrity:

Plagiarism, cheating, and other misconduct are serious violations of your contract as a student. We expect that you will know and follow the University's policies on cheating and plagiarism . Any suspected cases of academic misconduct will be handled according to University regulations.  More information, including definitions and examples of Academic Misconduct, can be found at the following website:
http://depts.washington.edu/grading/issue1/honesty.htm

Field Trips:

We will go on 3-4 field trips during the lab sessions. Two will occur during normal lab hours and 1-2 will run until 6-7 pm due to the distance from campus (e.g., Quilcene and Bainbridge Island).  For any questions on field trips and insurance, please see the website:
http://fish.washington.edu/classes/trip_insurance.html

Office hrs:

By appointment

Lecture:

MWF 10:30-11:20, 107 FSH

Laboratory:

W 1:30-4:20 pm, FTR 124

Recommended:

10 credits of biological science

Text:

None. But for those interested in extra reading:

• Fundamentals of Aquaculture by James W. Avault, Jr (Ed.).  1996.  AVA Publishing Co, Inc., Baton Rouge, LA, 889 pp.
• Ecological Aquaculture by Barry Costa-Pierce (Ed.).  2002.  Blackwell Science, Malden, MA, 382 pp.

Required readings will be on electronic reserve (see next page).

Learning objectives:

To develop skills and acquire knowledge to be able to understand different aquaculture systems, the relationship between successful aquaculture and environmental stewardship, and the opportunities/limitations of obtaining shellfish and finfish from the ocean and aquatic systems.  An underpinning of sustainability (the environment, culture ability and economic viability of culture operations) will be examined throughout the course.  Specifically, this course will help you to learn how aquaculture supports production of representative species including conservation and for various other purposes.  You will learn about the interrelationship between culture operations and the natural environment, specifics on culture of selected species will be explored.

Skill objectives:

• Speaking
• Writing
• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Collaboration with other students
• Gathering, reading, and reporting on current events related to aquaculture and fishery commodities
• Participation in discussions
• Interaction with professionals in the aquaculture industry
• Gain experience with operating an aquaculture production system.

Course overview:

This course will explore the concept of sustainability as it applies to the interrelationship between the environment, aquatic species (e.g. biology, health, nutrition) and the culture of aquatic animal and plant species on a global level.  Current practices of practical commercial production will be discussed, as will changes and understanding needed to improve the sustainability of aquaculture.  Key issues associated with the attainment of sustainability and successful culture for food production and species conservation will be the focus of the lectures.  These issues include aquatic and near-shore ecosystem conservation, relationship with fisheries, animal health, water quality, transfer regulations, culture practices, species selection, and others.

Evaluation system: 

% of course grade*

Exam 1
Exam 2
Lab session
Final exam
Total

20
20
30 (5 participation, 25 lab reports)
30
100

Late Policy:

Assignments turned in late will be penalized (5%) for each day they are late unless prior arrangements have been made.

Exams:

Approximately 75% of the material on the exams will be from information presented in lecture, and approximately 25% may be from the assigned reading.   Study questions will be distributed approximately one week prior to the exams and final.  Class time and/or a special review session will be scheduled for discussion and to answer questions.

The two exams will consist of:

• 1-2 case studies in which you will be presented with a situation or dilemma.  Your charge will be to provide the best solution and to justify your answer.
• Short answer (problems, definitions, compare-and-contrast, etc.)

The final exam will be comprehensive (Monday March 14^th 8:30-10:20 am). 

Lab session: 

Wed 1:30-4:20 pm.  For this course we will spawn and dissect a variety of species.  You will also learn about water quality measurements and disease diagnosis (including PCR). 

Each student must keep a weekly lab notebook.  The notebook should contain the following information (including field trips):

Date, Experiment, Purpose, Methods, Results and Conclusions.Keeping a proper notebook will aid in your lab report writing.  Lab notebooks will be examined periodically.

Lab reports are also required for 4-5 labs, of these the best 4 grades will be used.  Thus you may complete either only 4 or all 5.  These will entail either a synopsis of the field trip or assignment given during the trip and a series of reports written as short scientific papers regarding each lab exercise.

The lab reports will be structured with the following:

Title, Author(s), Introduction, Methods (including hypothesis), Results, Discussion, Conclusions, and References.

Each report requires at least two cited references from peer-reviewed journal articles and/or books.  For additional references, extra credit may be earned.

Field trips:

You will be going on several field trips during the lab period, and you are required to attend all of them.  Possible weekend trips will be optional.  There will be questions on the exams related to the field trips scheduled during lab time.

Reading assignments:

All readings are on electronic reserve or occasionally a website will be provided.  Additional readings may be added periodically to complement the lecture series.

Electronic reserve:

Browser requirements:  Netscape 4 or better, Internet Explorer 4 or better.  UWNetID is required.  Adobe Acrobat 4 or better required to view reserve readings in portable document format (pdf). There are some additional issues with specific browser configurations.

To look at the list:

• go to http://eres.lib.washington.edu
• Click Electronic Reserves and Materials
• Click pull-down menu to find and highlight Aquatic & Fisheries Sciences.
• Click “go.”
• Click "Fish 324"
• After reading the copyright restrictions, click Accept.

NOTE: Readings are in chronological order based on lecture number. Those that apply to multiple lectures are at the bottom of the e-reserve listings.

Week 1

Lectures 1-3

M

Mar 27

 NO CLASS

W

Mar 29

Friedman

Importance of fisheries and aquaculture: luxury vs. domestic food production & intro to the debate (Naylor: Effect of aquaculture…and Rana: Trends in global aquaculture production)

Tour of NMFS Montlake recirculating facility

F

Mar 31

Current issues regarding sustainability- Developed vs Developing Countries (Naiman et al. 2006 AND Goldberg, RJ, Elliott, MS, Naylor, RL. 2001. Marine Aquaculture in the United States: Environmental Impacts and Policy Options. Pew Oceans Commission, Arlington, Virginia available at http://www.pewoceans.com)

Week 2

Lectures 4-6

M

Apr 3

Friedman

Nutritional value of shellfish and finfish as food (Nettleton: Seafood Nutrition Ch. 2: Skim chapter only)

Tour of zebrafish culture facility and water quality testing

W

Apr 5

Friedman

Ecological and social aspects of aquaculture development (Ronnback: Ecological basis for economic value of seafood…..)

F

Apr 7

Friedman

Sustainable aquaculture: information needed to achieve sustainability (Poortenaar: Assessment of Yellowtail Kingfish)

Week 3

Lectures 7-8

M

Apr 10

Young

Finfish physiology (Reading TBA)
Or reverse with below

DNA extraction and quantification; discussion of PCR as diagnostic tool

W

Apr 12

Friedman

Water quality (Thompson: Importance of biofilms…)

F

Apr 14

Friedman

Genetic considerations of cultured/enhanced fish (Bentsen: Designing aquaculture mass selection….)

Week 4

Lectures 9-11

M

Apr 17

Rogers

The regulatory quagmire (Carlton: Introduced species in US)

Run PCRs and Run OTC assay

W

Apr 19

EXAM 1

F

Apr 21

Friedman

Finfish biology key issues for sustainability (e.g., life hist., ecol, etc)

Week 5 Lectures 12-14

M

Apr 24

Friedman

Finfish nutrition: (Hetrampf: Handbook on ingredients for Aquaculture Feeds)

Disease lab and run gels

W

Apr 26

Friedman

Use of therapeutants in aquaculture (Armstrong: Drugs/Moriarty: Hazards of antibiotic use…AND Rebuttal)

F

Apr 28

Friedman

Tropical Fish Trade (Tullock: Environmental Aquarist: Should wild harvest continue?)

Week 6

Lectures 15-17

M

May 1

Rust

Finfish pond system: a case study (catfish) (Workshop of aquaculture regulations and research goals)

Open lab or field trip: Net pen or mussel raft culture operation 1:30 to 6:30 pm

W

May 3

Rust

Marine cage culture: a case study (salmon Industry and off shore culture) (Bridger: Aquaculture, escapement and mitigation AND Brooks: Environmental effects associated with marine netpen.)

F

May 5

Friedman 

Shellfish nutrition/microalgae culture (Hetrampf: Handbook on ingredients for Aquaculture Feeds: Skim chapter only and Wikfors: Impact of algal research in aquaculture; Shumway: Review of the effects of algal blooms….(skim this last one)

Week 7

Lectures 18-20

M

May 8

Waaland

Macroalgal biology and culture (Wikfors: Impact of algal research in aquaculture)

Oyster consumption of algae demo;

Examine a variety of microalgal species used in bivalve culture; set up for next week’s spawning

W

May 10

Friedman 

Crustacean biology overview: key issues for sustainability (Crustacean Farming Ch1-3.3)

EXAM 2 Take-home assigned

F

May 12

Friedman

Invertebrate diseases (USMSFP Suggested Procedures…..AND Elston: Prevention and management…..)

Week 8

Lectures 21-22

M

May 15

Friedman

Shrimp culture (Crustacean Farming Ch1-3.3)

EXAM 2 due at START of class

Abalone and/or bivalve spawning

W

May 17

Friedman

Crayfish and freshwater shrimp biology and culture (Crustacean Farming Ch1-3.3 AND Flaherty: Low salinity inland shrimp farming…..)

F

May 19

Friedman

Mollusc biology overview: key issues for sustainability (life history, ecol, etc.) (Wallace: Culturing the eastern oyster)

Week 9

Lectures 23-25

M

May 22

VanBlaricom

Interactions between marine mammals and shellfish (Estes: Sea otters and shellfisheries)

No formal lab: keep your larvae alive week

W

May 24

Friedman

Abalone biology and culture (Leighton: Laboratory observations on the early growth of the abalone, Haliotis sorenseni…and McCormick: Abalone (Haliotis spp.) aquaculture….)

F

May 26

Friedman

Bivalve culture: oysters, clams, mussels 1

Week 10

Lectures 26-28

M

May 29

Friedman

Bivalve culture: oysters, clams, mussels 2

Field trip: Taylor’s Hatchery 1:30 to 6:30 pm

W

May 31

Cheney

Scallop and Pearl culture (Nyquil: Trophic web carrying capacity…)

F

Jun 2

Friedman

Aquaculture: good, bad, moving up the learning curve debate