Part of the idea behind this blog was to provide information on different aspects of fisheries since it involves so many areas from social sciences to engineering, via economics and enforcement just to name a few! But one of the more "obscure" areas to make accessible is Fisheries Biology and Stock Assessment... which are key ingredients in the complex recipe of Fisheries Management.
I have never actually met Ian Knuckey, even if we have a lot of acquaintances and colleges in common and have done work for the same organizations, so when I came across his excellent series of 12 videos explaining some aspects of the biology and population dynamics of fish, fisheries data, fisheries stock assessments, harvest strategies and fisheries economics. I contacted him to ask him if I could post about them, to which he kindly agreed.
I liked the videos a lot and watched them with my science-savvy kids (11 and 14) so I relate totally to the introduction the 1st fisherman does. Ian and the production team manages to get rather obscure concepts into plain language, without loosing accuracy, and that is awesome. Furthermore, the fact that he uses real-life examples and local fisherman (from Australia- hence the accents are a bonus!), add to the "right to the point" feeling of the "lessons."
The length of the videos (all below 10') is also about right, to keep your attention focused/
If you ask me, this is the way to fight for sustainability in fisheries, don't come with paternalistic approaches, explain things in a way people can access it. I remember someone saying: "there are no complex subjects, there are complex explanations" so if we get to make explanations simple... we'll get there.
I present the 1st 6 today and the next 6 later on. Enjoy...
Meet the Fisherman
Schools of Fish - What is a stock?
Recruitment
Age and Growth
Mortality
Selectivity