Improving Biology Students' Knowledge and Understanding of Ichthyology as a form of Fish Conservation Strategy

Abstract

Indonesia is one of the countries with the highest biodiversity and fish producers in the world. Demand for fish consumption in the world continues to increase, on the other hand, there is a threat of decreasing fish biodiversity in the wild due to overfishing, destructive fishing gear, water pollution, and others. This phenomenon occurs because of the lack of knowledge and understanding of the community about fish and all aspects of its life. It is high time to manage fish biological resources, and as a first step, it is necessary to introduce and understand the community. One of them is the academic community in universities. This community service activity was carried out on August 21, 2021, in the form of education/counseling related to Ichthyology (Fish and all aspects of life) to student groups who are members of the Ichthyology Study Club, Biology Study Program, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Islam Malang. Evaluation of the level of knowledge and understanding of students using a questionnaire filled out by participants before and after the educational activities and discussions took place. The results of the activity in general, students are quite enthusiastic and interested in educational material. The results of the evaluation using a questionnaire show that students' knowledge and understanding of fish is quite high (> 50%) although it still needs to be improved. Students are also interested in studying fish in depth to support their final project and want it to be included in the Biology Study Program curriculum in the future.

Keyword:

Fish, Conservation, Sustainable use