Title: Curriculum for fishing technology and seamanship courses

The project’s objective is to develop a training curriculum (integrated syllabus that will consist of a set of course topics and their contents) for fishing technology and seamanship courses at NAMFI (Namibian Maritime and Fisheries Institute) in which clear aims in the working practices for fisheries training and methods are set out as part of the syllabus. Due to ever changing technology and new demands, it seems natural to review the curriculum to keep up with challenges in the fisheries sector. So the training has practical relevance to the fishing industry, keeping in mind the career destinations of our students. Emphasis is placed on improving the students’ knowledge and skills by taking into account more practical exercises. The major topics involved are fishing gear design and modifications, responsible fisheries practices, fish handling and quality issues, which were divided into sub-topics. However, the whole structure was tailored down to a syllabus with a defined content, duration, methods of teaching, teaching material and assessment criteria for both Deck Officer Class 6 and 5 levels respectively. Classroom lectures are presented and practical demonstrations will be exercised for each of the main topics. The curriculum fits the needs and challenges of training deck hands, mates and skippers in compliance to international standards.