Course code: BIO-8012

Fish migration: Theory and technology

Se how you can apply

Apply between July 20 and August 9

Campus

Semester / Year Autumn 2013

Credits 5

NOTE! This course belongs to a previous semester/year

About the course

PhD course for biology students. Maximum participants: 20

Fishes migrate on different spatial and temporal scales, utilising the best suited habitat during different stages of the life cycle to increase individual fitness. The diadromous migrations of salmonids and eels between spawning and feeding habitats are well known examples. Humans have exploited fishes during their migrations for several thousand years, and many migrating species have a high economic value. During this course, insights will be given in ecological causes and evolutionary consequences of fish migrations, migration patterns, orientation, navigation, anthropogenic impacts, and with examples from a range of fish species in northern marine and freshwater systems. The course will also introduce the students to biotelemetry and other tag and tracking methods, with emphasis on use of radio and acoustic transmitters, manual tracking and use of automatic data logging stations, use of sensors measuring physiological and environmental factors, data storage tags, satellite pop-up archival tags, sampling design, tagging techniques, and ethics and animal welfare issues related to fish tagging.

Admission requirements

Use this application form to register on the course and send it to Ingjerd Gauslaa Nilsen at BFE Faculty, University of Tromsø:
Admission PhD Courses

Objectives of the course

The students will have solid theoretical knowledge in ecological causes and evolutionary consequences of fish migrations, as well as in technologies used to study fish migrations. They will have insights in orientation and navigation mechanisms in fishes. They will further have a good understanding in how human impacts may influence fish migrations. The students will have specific knowledge in available telemetry and other tag and tracking methods. They will be able to select suitable methods, and to design and plan a fish migration study. They will have practical training in tagging and fish tracking methods, and be able to reflect on ethical and animal welfare issues related to such studies. After the course, the students will have a general understanding of fish migrations with specific examples from arctic and sub-arctic areas and broad knowledge on the available methods to study fish migrations in a variety of aquatic systems.

Teaching methods

Lectures, demonstrations and practical exercises.

Two- week intensive course, likely 14 October 25 October 2013.

PhD students will deliver a written exercise.

Language of instruction and examination

English

Application deadline

1. September 2013

Assessment

Oral exam. Letter grades, A-F

Error rendering component

Previous years and semesters

Kontakt oss

Responsible unit: Institutt for arktisk og marin biologi

Audun Rikardsen

Professor

audun.rikardsen@uit.no

Eva Bonsak Thorstad