Theme: Fish for the Future Seaweek '91 coordinator: Don Alcock Understanding the theme

Talk to 'old timers' and they will almost invariably tell you that there are not as many fish as there used to be. They will tell you of the huge catches they used to take in 'the good old days'. As our population increases, there will be more commercial and amateur fishers and greater demand for fresh unpolluted seafood.

Also as the population increases so will the level of land based pollution reaching our oceans. Human expansion will place growing pressure on our coastal zone and encroach further on the vital estuarine and coastal wetland fish nursery areas. It is easy to see that unless proper measures are introduced to protect and manage fish stocks there will be problems in the future.

This theme aims to increase awareness in the community of the threats to fish stocks and provide practical ways to enjoy fish and fishing while ensuring the survival of fish for future generations. Many issues arise when educating about this theme:

• Health and protection of fish breeding grounds and habitats
• Marine protected areas and protected species
• Regulations eg bag & bait limits, licensing, legal lengths, closed seasons
• Aquaculture and mariculture
• By-catch
• Fishing methods and equipment
• Pollution, habitat destruction and land management issues
• Ballast water and other international fishery concern

Exploring the theme - event ideas

‘Oceanographer for the day’
- Experiments on a field trip and back in the lab.

What A hands on marine education programme for senior high school students. Where Aboard the Seaworld boat at the Gold Coast and then back at school. How

Oceanographer for the day

With cooperation and sponsorship from Wet Paper, Seaworld and the Gold Coast City Council a marine education programme for secondary school students was organised. It introduced practical methods for the examination of estuarine, waste, storm and oceanic water.

On a boat trip plankton samples where collected and examined. The turbidity and temperature of the sea water were also tested. Further samples were taken back to school to be analysed. These were tested for six of the nine testing protocols recognised world wide as indicators of pollution. In a later class, discussion and class activities were developed on water pollution, water conservation and the WaterWise concepts.

Why

This programme combined a fun, practical field trip with classroom activities. First hand experience is a very effective method of working with students on issues of water quality and catchment care. Not only did the students and teachers carry out the experiments but they also learnt techniques and methods of testing that can be used in the future, for testing other situations or environments.