Sustainable Seafood: Barriers and Opportunities in the Fishing Industry (FutureLearn)

Offered by EIT Food, EIT, FoodUnfolded,
Sustainable Seafood: Barriers and Opportunities in the Fishing Industry (FutureLearn)

Dive into the environmental and social impacts of different fishing practices and discover sustainable approaches and innovations. Understand the true environmental and social impact of fisheries and aquaculture. As we discover more about unsustainable and damaging fishing practices, it’s important to have an accurate understanding of the problem in order to take action.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

On this three-week course, you’ll gain a nuanced understanding of the environmental and social problems of the fishing industry. Moving beyond just the impacts of fisheries, you’ll delve into fish farming and aquaculture to gain a comprehensive insight into different fishing industries.
With this knowledge, you’ll explore approaches and innovations to make these practices more sustainable.

Learn to define sustainable fisheries and seafood
Sustainable seafood is a complex topic, which is often hard to navigate as a consumer. You’ll learn to define what is meant by sustainable seafood and use this understanding to critique sustainable seafood products.
You’ll also explore how stakeholders and the growth of seafood demand affects the industry’s sustainability and the issues this causes for the oceans.

Dive into ocean science and the barriers to sustainable seafood
With an understanding of what sustainable seafood means, you’ll start to unpack the barriers faced by the industry. You’ll learn about wild-capture fisheries, quotas, and catch policy as you explore case studies related to unsustainable fishing.
Next, you’ll discover the challenges of fish farming and aquaculture, including welfare, species selection, and health.

Discover sustainable fishing solutions
Finally, you’ll unpack the opportunities for sustainable solutions such as improved fishing techniques and marine protected areas.
By the end of the course created by FoodUnfolded® in collaboration with EIT Food Education partners, you’ll have a solid understanding of the impacts of the fishing industry as well as the sustainable innovations to transform its practices.

Syllabus

Week 1: Defining sustainable seafood
Week 2: Sustainable seafood: Barriers
Week 3: Sustainable seafood: An ocean of opportunities

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Identify the environmental impacts of fisheries, and fisheries management practices and innovations that make it more sustainable
  • Explore the fish farming food chain and its environmental and socio-economic impacts
  • Evaluate the benefits and limitations of varying aquaculture species on health and the environment
  • Explore ocean science and marine technologies
  • Identify or critique ‘sustainable’ seafood products as a consumer
  • Apply your understanding to address the sustainability challenges of consuming living marine resources

Who is the course for?
This course is designed for anyone interested in learning more about the environmental and social impacts of the fishing industry.

Whether you want to become a conscious consumer, you’re a marine biology student, or you’re simply curious about fishing and the environment, this course will help you gain knowledge of sustainable seafood.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Agriculture and Nutrition (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Taipei Medical University

Agriculture and Nutrition (FutureLearn)

The benefits of rice bran for preventing chronic diseases; the relationships of the mammary gland, and immune in cow. In this course, you will learn about the bioactive components and the benefits of rice bran and fermented rice bran for preventing chronic diseases such as metabolic syndrome. You will learn about the basic knowledge of the immune system and the correlations among mammary gland, epithelial mucosa, and immune in the dairy cows.

Apr 15th 2024
4 Weeks
Drainage in Agriculture: controlling water and salt levels in the soil (edX) EdX
Wageningen University,WageningenX

Drainage in Agriculture: controlling water and salt levels in the soil (edX)

Get prepared for heavier rainfall and the increasing demand for food! The #1 Agricultural University of the world will teach you how to design and implement effective drainage systems in agriculture. You will learn how to create a perfect soil profile for optimal growing conditions for a crop and help feed the growing world population. Enrol now and prepare for the effects of climate change by draining excess water.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Sustainable Food Systems (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Sustainable Food Systems (Coursera)

Throughout this course, you will delve into the intricate details of the food production system through a system-thinking lens. You will examine the grand challenges faced by the food, fiber, and natural resource industries, and their repercussions on people, the planet, and profit. By the end of this course, you will have a clear understanding of the concept of systems thinking, be able to explain the three key pillars of sustainability and link these pillars to social, environmental, and economic systems.

May 18th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Healthy and Sustainable Foods (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Healthy and Sustainable Foods (Coursera)

This course focuses on healthy and sustainable foods. After reviewing the crucial role of food for both health and the environment, we first look at the carbon footprint and environmental impacts of multiple ingredients and more complex foods. We also detail a health-based approach to quantify the impact of 5000+ individual foods on health, expressed in minutes of life lost and gain per serving.

Jun 1st 2026
3 Weeks
Transport Systems: Global Issues and Future Innovations (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Leeds

Transport Systems: Global Issues and Future Innovations (FutureLearn)

Discover how the transport sector can develop infrastructures that meet the needs of a 21st century population. Explore how and why transport systems must change in the 21st century. What are the challenges faced by today’s transport sector? How can transport professionals develop systems that meet the needs of the 21st century?

Feb 16th 2026
2 Weeks
Exploring the World of Electric Mobility: Key Concepts and Strategies (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
RWTH Aachen,Transforming Urban Mobility Initiative - TUMI,GIZ,PEM Motion

Exploring the World of Electric Mobility: Key Concepts and Strategies (FutureLearn)

Explore concepts, policies, and innovations in electric mobility to help decarbonise and build more sustainable transport systems. Learn how e-mobility can help create sustainable cities. Electric mobility is crucial for making urban transport greener and more sustainable. But with recommendations and policies on electric vehicles evolving rapidly, it can be hard to know what’s what in the world of e-mobility. This six-week course from the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI) provides a comprehensive overview of issues relating to electric mobility.

Oct 7th 2024
5-12 Weeks
Effective Livestock Production with Low Use of Antibiotics (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Effective Livestock Production with Low Use of Antibiotics (FutureLearn)

Learn what antibiotic resistance is and how to prevent it while increasing productivity among your livestock. Understand disease prevention and antibiotic use in livestock production. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasing problem worldwide and is a threat to the health of animals and humans. But there is still a need for a efficient livestock production, which requires healthy animals.

Aug 26th 2024
4 Weeks
Tackling Environmental Challenges for a Sustainable Future (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of York

Tackling Environmental Challenges for a Sustainable Future (FutureLearn)

Discover how environmental research can inform how we respond to and solve the major global environmental issues of today. Explore sustainable solutions to environmental issues like changing glaciers. Our energy use is unsustainable, we’re producing waste plastic that’s endangering oceans, and large parts of the natural world are disappearing. We know our planet is facing huge environmental challenges, but what are we doing to solve them?

Jul 8th 2024
4 Weeks
Environmental Challenges: Scarcity and Conflict in the Natural Environment (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Leeds

Environmental Challenges: Scarcity and Conflict in the Natural Environment (FutureLearn)

War and conflict can severely disrupt the governance of the environment. What is the impact on both people and the environment? This course explores three aspects of conflict and resource scarcity, and applies these to explore decision making and negotiation skills. Human conflict has both short and long term effects on the natural world.

Nov 25th 2024
2 Weeks