Fisheries Minor
Alabama A&M University
18 credits
Description:
There are two fisheries courses in the Department of Natural Resources and
Environmental Sciences (NRES), “Principles of Fisheries Science” and “Fisheries
Management and Aquaculture”. The fisheries courses make use of experiential learning
in the field using the boat, electroshocker, water sampling equipment and fish sampling
equipment and supplies acquired using funds from this grant. Student reaction to the
hands-on nature of these afternoon “lab” courses was overwhelmingly positive,
especially exercises that involved capturing fish using the electroshocker or the boat. We
have had similar responses from minority High School students that were part of the
“Young Water Ambassadors” summer research program with the Birmingham
Waterworks Board for the past two summers. Course descriptions are below:
Fisheries Minor Course Descriptions:
NRE 388 (Principles of Fisheries Science) - Hands-on introduction to fisheries science.
Overview of the nature of fisheries, brief introduction to the physiological ecology of
aquatic organisms, methods in the capture and identification of local fishes, introduction
to trophic interactions, bioasessment, and habitat and water quality assessment.
NRE 389 (Fish Management and Aquaculture) - Hands-on introduction to the practice of
fisheries management and aquaculture. Overview of common and experimental
aquaculture methods. Examination of basic fisheries management techniques and
experience in fisheries assessment.
The Fisheries minor will qualify our majors in Forestry, Biology, and Environmental
Science to meet the academic requirements (X-118 standards) of fisheries biology
positions (GS-482 series) with the federal government. The courses also extend the
offering of aquatic natural history on the AAMU campus beyond ichthyology (study of
fish).We will provide minority students with hands-on training to prepare instructional
materials that will be used to provide experiential learning to more minority students in a
career field where they are extremely under-represented. Our fisheries program
development compliments similar development in water resources and hydrology
currently occurring in our Department. The establishment of a Center of Excellence in
Watershed Management by the Environmental Protection Agency on our campus, as well
as demonstrated financial support from the USDA, indicates the high level of interest
among federal agencies and employers in developing our research, education, and
extension capabilities in aquatic resources. These accomplishments represent a
substantial achievement to diversify the fish and wildlife management profession.
Finally, we have, with significant assistance from USDA/CSREES, established the
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foundation for developing a fish & wildlife major at a historically black college and
university.
In addition to the two fisheries courses, fisheries minors must also have at least 12 credit
hours in upper division biology, zoology, or ecology courses that are specified in the list
below:
Students may select any combination of courses that equal 18 credits to qualify for a
minor. However, the selection MUST include NRE 388 and 389.
Fisheries Minor
Prefix
Numb
er
1
2
3
4
NRE
NRE
BIO
BIO
5
BIO
6
BIO
7
BIO
8
BIO
9
BIO
10
11
12
BIO
BIO
BIO
13
BIO
14
BIO
15
BIO
388
389
200
201/2
01L
202/2
02L
205/2
05L
311/3
11L
321/3
21L
322/3
22L
324
325
402/4
02L
403/4
03L
411/4
11L
481
16
17
18
19
20
NRE
NRE
NRE
NRE
NRE
286
488
451
470
472
Course Title
Credit hours
Principles of Fisheries Science
Fisheries Management and Aquaculture
Environmental Biology- 3 credits
Invertebrate Zoology & Lab
3 credits
3 credits
3 credits
4 credits
Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy & Lab
4 credits
Ecology & Lab
4 credits
Genetics & Lab
4 credits
Introduction to Parasitology & Lab
4 credits
General Entomology & Lab
4 credits
Ecotoxicology I
Ecotoxicology II
Limnology & Lab
3 credits
3 credits
4 credits
Ichthyology & Lab
4 credits
Cell Biology & Lab
4 credits
Research in Biology
Credits
arranged
3 credits
3 credits
3 credits
4 credits
3 credits
Wildlife Identification
Wildlife Techniques (current)
Environmental Toxicology
Soil, Plant, and Water Analysis
Soil, Water, and Air Pollution
2
21
22
23
24
NRE
NRE
NRE
NRE
475
484
489
490
Principles of Wetlands
Ecological Processes
Forest Ecological Management
Special Problems in Plant & Soil Science
3 credits
3 credits
3 credits
1-3 credits
Integration with the Forest Science Major:
Forestry majors (Forest Science Option) can take “Principles of Fisheries”, “Fisheries
Management and Aquaculture”, and twelve hours in biology lab courses in
ecology/zoology subjects and be qualified for federal fisheries biologist positions. If there
is no overlap between major and minor course requirements (no simultaneous credit for
a course that meets major and minor requirements), then students will be able to receive a
Forest Science major and a Fisheries minor after a minimum of 146 total credit hours
(128 + 18 = 146).
We therefore recommend that NRE 388 and NRE 389 be allowed to fulfill requirements
of the Forest Science major as “restricted forestry electives” (6 of 11 credits in this
Major category) while simultaneously fulfilling the requirements for the Fisheries Minor.
We further suggest that the 9 hours of advisor approved electives (9 of 9 credits in this
Major category) required by the Forest Science Major could be used to complete 9 of the
12 hours needed in the biology portion of the Fisheries minor. Therefore, it would take 3
additional hours (18 – 6 – 9 = 3) above the 128 hours required for the major to complete
the Fisheries Minor (a minimum total of 131 hours to receive the Forest Science Major
with the Fisheries Minor). Recommended classes for the minor in this major are listed
below (although any of the Biology course options listed in the “Changes in Course
requirements for Graduation” form on Page 4 of this document could be used to
substitute:
Prefix
Number
1
2
NRE
NRE
388
389
3
BIO
4
BIO
5
BIO
6
BIO
7
BIO
202/202
L
322/322
L
205/205
L
402/402
L
403/403
L
Course Title
Credit hours
Principles of Fisheries Science
Fisheries Management and Aquaculture
Any 12 hours in courses below
suggested:
Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy & Lab
3 credits
3 credits
4 credits
General Entomology & Lab
4 credits
Ecology & Lab
4 credits
Limnology & Lab
4 credits
Ichthyology & Lab
4 credits
Students may select any combination of
courses available for the Minor that equal 18
credits. However, the selection MUST include
NRE 388 and 389.
3
Integration with the Biology Major
If Biology students take “Principles of Fisheries”, “Fisheries Management and
Aquaculture”, and twelve hours from the list of courses that qualify for the Fisheries
minor, then, with the biology core courses already required for the Biology major,
students would fulfill the Fisheries minor requirements and be qualified for federal
fisheries biologist positions. If there is no overlap between major and minor course
requirements, (no simultaneous credit for courses in major and minor requirements) then
students will be able to receive a Biology major and a Fisheries minor with a minimum
of 144 credit hours (126 + 18).
We recommend that Biology majors in the Zoology track (Biology Major Track: 2) be
allowed to count their 12 hours of Biology electives (8 Biology elective hours and 4
“free” elective credits) toward their Biology major while simultaneously meeting the 12
hours required by the Fisheries minor (provided they take Parasitology and Entomology
as their Biology track electives and one of the 4-hour Biology lab courses listed in the
Fisheries minor curriculum for their free elective class). Recommended curriculum for
fish minor in this Biology track is listed below:
Prefix
Number
1
2
3
NRE
NRE
BIO
4
BIO
388
389
321/321
L
322/322
L
5
BIO
6
BIO
7
BIO
8
BIO
402/402
L
403/403
L
202/202
L
201/201
L
Course Title
Credit hours
Principles of Fisheries Science
Fisheries Management and Aquaculture
Introduction to Parasitology & Lab
3 credits
3 credits
4 credits
General Entomology & Lab
4 credits
Choose one of the courses below:
Limnology & Lab
4 credits
Ichthyology & Lab
4 credits
Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy & Lab
4 credits
Invertebrate Zoology & Lab
4 credits
Students may select any combination of
courses that equal 18 credits to qualify for a
minor. However, the selection MUST include
NRE 388 and 389.
Biology Majors in the Ecotoxicology track (Biology Major Track: 5) could be allowed to
simultaneously count their 8 Biology elective hours ( provided they take Ecology and
4
Limnology as their Biology Track electives) toward the 12-hour requirement for these
courses in the Fisheries minor. These students could take one of the other 4-hour biology
courses listed in the Fisheries minor curriculum as their free biology elective. Students
from both of these tracks could then receive the Biology major with the Fisheries minor
with 6 additional hours (A total of 132 hours). Recommended curriculum for fish minor
in this Biology track is listed below:
Prefix
Number
1
2
NRE
NRE
388
389
3
BIO
4
BIO
402/402
L
205/205
L
5
BIO
6
BIO
7
BIO
8
BIO
403/403
L
202/202
L
201/201
L
322/322
L
Course Title
Credit hours
Principles of Fisheries Science (new)
Fisheries Management and Aquaculture
(new)
Limnology & Lab (current)
3 credits
3 credits
4 credits
Ecology & Lab (current)
4 credits
Choose one of the courses below:
Ichthyology & Lab (current)
4 credits
Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy & Lab
(current)
Invertebrate Zoology & Lab (current)
4 credits
4 credits
General Entomology & Lab (current)
4 credits
Students may select any combination of
courses that equal 18 credits to qualify for a
minor. However, the selection MUST include
NRE 388 and 389.
Other Biology major tracks (Biology Major Tracks 1,3,4) do not include some of the
biology elective courses required by the Fisheries minor to simultaneously count them
toward both curricula. Students in these tracks with a minor in Fisheries would be
required to take 14 more hours of classes unless core courses could count as Fisheries
minor courses simultaneously. Theses additional 14 hours would bring the total number
of hours required for these tracks to get a Biology major with a Fisheries Minor to 140.
Integration with the Environmental Science Major:
Unfortunately, there are not as many “free” electives (only 2) in the Environmental
Science Major as the other two majors above. Therefore, the fisheries minor would
require an additional 16 hours above the credit hour requirements of the major (128 + 16
= 144) assuming a two-hour overlap in courses that could be counted for the major and
the minor. Recommended course selections for the Environmental Science Major and
Fisheries Minor are listed below:
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Prefix
Number
1
2
NRE
NRE
388
389
3
BIO
4
BIO
5
BIO
6
BIO
7
BIO
202/202
L
322/322
L
205/205
L
402/402
L
403/403
L
Course Title
Credit hours
Principles of Fisheries Science
Fisheries Management and Aquaculture
Any 12 hours in courses below
suggested:
Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy & Lab
3 credits
3 credits
4 credits
General Entomology & Lab
4 credits
Ecology & Lab
4 credits
Limnology & Lab
4 credits
Ichthyology & Lab
4 credits
Students may select any combination
of courses available for the Minor that
equal 18 credits. However, the
selection MUST include NRE 388 and
389.
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