An Australian approach to management training and education for environmentally sustainable fisheries

Abstract

The rapid growth in human population has brought with it increased demand for seafood production and is placing stresses on aquatic ecosystems. The need to preserve ecological functionality and productivity has been highlighted by many international environmental instruments, such instruments either reflecting or leading changing societal values in relation to the environment. Within Australia all jurisdictions have adopted the ecological sustainability paradigm as the fundamental objective of government stewardship. The constraints to ecologically sustainable development of the fisheries sector are attributed to three areas, technological, socio-economic and environmental. There is a concomitant need for educational programmes that produce graduates with the mix of skills and knowledge to meet these emerging demands. This paper examines the types of management skills required to meet these challenges and relates them to the AMC's Graduate School of Marine Resource Management's professional development programmes. © 2002, The Japanese Society of Fisheries Science. All rights reserved.