Whether it’s blackbirds in Sweden, moths in Borneo, or mice in California, animals around the world are on the move thanks to climate change. Species are shifting higher up mountains and closer to the poles as global temperatures rise, following the climate conditions to which they’re adapted. Their futures depend not only on their changing natural environment but the countries in which they happen to live.
As conservation scientists, we need to know how species will move between countries to understand how they’re likely to fare. National borders define where the authority of laws and policies begins and ends, so a species living on one side of a border can sometimes expect very different levels of protection – and very different threats – compared to one living on the other side.
Red drum, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Photo: Steve Hillebrand, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Participants can find out all the fundamentals on the science behind fisheries management during a six-part online course that starts Tuesday.
North Carolina Sea Grant is hosting the introductory fisheries science class from 6:30-8:30 p.m. every Tuesday through March 23. Participants should plan to attend all six classes.
Course is $20 and participants must register online. The entire class will be held via Zoom. Space is limited to 40 persons online.
In 2017 Sea Grant surveyed saltwater fishers and learned that there was an interest in the science behind marine fisheries management including why some species are managed differently than others, the southern flounder fisheries over the last 10 years, how changes in habitat, water quality, and climate affect fisheries, and the role license holders play in the fisheries management process, according to the organization.