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

Come Rain or Shine: Understanding the Weather (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Reading

Come Rain or Shine: Understanding the Weather (FutureLearn)

Understand and explore the physical processes behind the weather. Weather affects our lives almost every day through what we wear, what we eat and what we do. But why is it rainy, windy or sometimes even sunny? Explore some of the physical processes driving UK weather systems and get hands on in the world of weather with practical activities and fieldwork.

Self Paced
3 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 Teach-Out (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Sustainable Food Teach-Out (Coursera)

What we choose to eat matters. Did you know that a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions come from food and agricultural systems? One way each and every one of us can take to reduce our impact on the environment is to change what is on the end of our forks. Join other participants and a range of experts in this Teach-Out to explore the complexities of the food system and how we can, individually and collectively, create food habits that reduce our impact on climate change.

No upcoming session
1 Week
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.

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Development and Planning in African Cities: Exploring theories, policies and practices from Sierra Leone (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University College London,Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre,Njala University

Development and Planning in African Cities: Exploring theories, policies and practices from Sierra Leone (FutureLearn)

As African cities grow, learn how development and planning help urban actors to make cities just and sustainable for all. In the next 35 years, Africa will need to accommodate almost 900 million new urban dwellers. Hundreds of smaller cities are doubling in size every 20 years, half of Africa’s urban dwellers live in informal settlements in precarious conditions, and 75% of these are younger than 35. Our course will explore African cities through the lenses of spatial justice and social diversity, challenging myths and assumptions about urban development and demonstrating how different processes interact and shape the development of a city.

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Climate Change: Solutions (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Exeter

Climate Change: Solutions (FutureLearn)

Explore the potential solutions to climate change and how they relate to the UN's sustainable development goals. Man-made climate change is one of the biggest threats to the world. The effects are already being seen through receding glaciers, ocean acidification and an increasingly vulnerable food supply. It’s vital we work to find solutions to climate change.

Available now
4 Weeks
Extreme Geological Events (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Cardiff University

Extreme Geological Events (FutureLearn)

Explore how extreme geological events have shaped Earth and what challenges future events might pose to our planet. Discover how extreme geological events have transformed our planet. Retrace how Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago and has evolved to become the planet we know today. On this course, you’ll get an introduction to the geological history of planet Earth, and explore the extreme events that shaped it and created conditions for life.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Beneath the Blue: The Importance of Marine Sediments (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Southampton

Beneath the Blue: The Importance of Marine Sediments (FutureLearn)

Understand the importance of our planet's seafloor and get an introduction to the exciting field of ocean science. Discover fascinating seafloor habitats and learn how humans affect them. Exactly what lies beneath our oceans? Why is the sea floor, and its marine sediments, so important? And how are humans affecting them? On this course you’ll answer these questions and more.

No sessions available
3 Weeks