Embracing the concept of experiential learning – that you learn best by doing – a program will be launched to teach students of the Southwest Coast of the island of Newfoundland about the Sustainability of the American Lobster Fishery.  The field trip will include:
• A boat ride on a DFO vessel. The boat will be captained by a Fisheries Officer with a second Fisheries Officer onboard. A teacher or school official will be on the boat at all times.
• Students will be divided into smaller groups of 7 to 8 students per boat trip for personalized learning
• The field trip will last approximately 1 hour per group, including dock side safety talk and fitting of life jackets, time at sea, as disembarking the vessel when it returns to dock.
• Students will learn about features of lobster traps (ie. escape hatch) and fishing practices (ie., v-notching) that help ensure the sustainability of the lobster fishery.
• Students will pull a lobster trap, learn how to identify male from female, record scientific measurements, look at egg stages if a berried female is captured, etc.
• ACAP Humber Arm staff will talk to students about aquatic invasive species and their impact on American lobster, and ACAP Humber Arm staff and Fisheries Officers will talk to students about career opportunities in the ocean sector.