The program is designed to develop well-rounded technologists with a broad background in the practical and academic skills of fish and invertebrate culture, fisheries habitat and fish stock assessment, wild stock management, and environmental control and planning.
Both the 'why' and 'how' are presented through formal lectures and practical experience. The selection of program material is designed to give a broad theoretical background to provide flexibility, as well as foster a professional attitude toward a future career. Students will spend approximately 25 per cent of their time on 'hands-on' fisheries and aquaculture projects on- and-off campus.
The first year provides a foundation in such basic conceptual areas as statistics, biology, English, habitats of fish and fish rearing methods. There is a weekly practicum, in which students are sent into the field for a day to work in various aquacultural or fisheries facilities (salmonid hatcheries, spawning channels, wild fish projects, oyster farms, invertebrate hatcheries and others), and students also work one half day each week on aquaculture or fisheries field projects on campus or in the field. Many courses also involve significant field experience. Over the two years this practical work experience exposes students to a wide variety of activities, and introduces them to the facilities, organizations and personnel important in their future careers.
In the second year, students are exposed to more advanced and specialized topics in fisheries and aquaculture. These include engineering courses for both fisheries (hydrology with a stream surveying component) and aquaculture (e.g., hydraulics and hatchery design), as well as special courses in aquaculture. There is a special field course on practical limnology in which students work and live, for a week, on the shores of a remote lake under flycamp conditions. Both the second-year weekly practicum and project courses may be designed by the student to emphasize areas of special interest.
The one-year, post-degree diploma program is a limited-entry option for university graduates with degrees in biology, zoology or related sciences. In this case, students complete the requirements for the diploma in one year, plus one summer practicum (see below for admission requirements).
In addition to the many scholarships available to all VIU Students, there are numerous special awards for Fisheries and Aquaculture students, ranging in value from CAN $300 to CAN $2,500.
Career Opportunities
Careers in fisheries and aquaculture typically involve both outdoor work related to the rearing or assessment of aquatic stocks, and indoor activities related directly to field or support activities, including personnel and business management. Aquaculture is usually practiced in relatively remote areas.
It should be noted that the skills required for both the aquaculturist and the field fisheries technician broadly overlap, and that aquaculture plays an increasingly important role in wild stock management through the employment of hatcheries and fish stock enhancement. Students in this program are prepared for both career areas and after graduation frequently work in both.
Other placements include laboratory, sales, research and international opportunities. Many career opportunities are available to graduates willing to work in outdoor conditions, often in remote areas. Such work often includes field work with wild stocks including habitat assessment in both fresh and salt water, estimates of wild stock population, habitat restoration, research assistance, and monitoring of harvests.