Avoiding the overexploitation of marine fisheries through an interactive, hands-on simulation

This activity is designed to align with a flipped learning environment in which students engage with important course concepts prior to class such that they are prepared to conduct the in-class activity. Pre-class work is designed to be completion-based and failure-tolerant and uses formative assessment to monitor student activity and accomplishment of learning objectives. The activity also assumes previous exposure to introductory ecological concepts related to biodiversity and conservation. The activity is designed for an 80-minute class session but can be easily divided into two 50-minute class sessions. The activity was initially designed for a college-level conservation biology course as part of a three-class unit on overexploitation of resources. A foundational reading and two videos are required as pre-class work. For the reading, instructors can use resources such as Perusall, which tracks student engagement with readings and allows students and instructors to converse digitally by providing comments on the reading. Students complete a handout associated with the reading and videos to create a more active learning environment when conducting pre-class work. Instructors may also precede this activity with a short lecture on overexploitation. For the in-class activity, a simulation of overexploitation is created using a large blue tarp and laminated cutouts of fish. Because of the space that is required, this activity is best done in an open space outdoors. For the simulation, students act as commercial fishing operators and determine how much harvest is required for their operation to be profitable. Students are allowed to “fish” in the ocean without any restrictions for a short time. Inevitably, the tragedy of the commons occurs, and only a few fish are left, which then reproduce. After the next round of fishing, the population is usually eliminated. Students then assess why overexploitation occurred and suggest strategies to prevent overexploitation. Typically, these strategies consist of shortening the fishing time, limiting the number of commercial operators, establishing a limit on catch, and creating a marine protected area. Students then conduct the simulation again while implementing one management strategy and evaluate the results after several rounds of fishing.  After class, students complete a short worksheet that leads to the development of a 400 – 500 word proposal, recommending a management strategy for an overexploited fish stock.