Courses Further Info

Please register course demand with the SFCC and we welcome all suggestions for new courses

Electrofishing

Courses are run by either Inverness College or Scotland's Rural College, Barony Campus. Two courses are available:

1. Introductory Electrofishing (SVQ level 2)

2. Team Leader Electrofishing (SVQ level 3)

For the introductory or team leader course, proof of a valid first aid certificate is no longer required for SFCC accreditation to be granted. A valid first aid qualification is also not a pre-requisite for attending the course. It is the responsibility of the attendee's employer to ensure that appropriate first aid training and certification is achieved before undertaking electrofishing or other field work. SFCC does not accept liability for any injuries sustained while electrofishing. SFCC recommend candidates hold an appropriate first aid qualification such as the two day Outdoor First Aid qualification issued by a regulated First Aid Provider such as ITC or equivalent, as this is appropriate for the environment in which candidates operate and will meet HSE requirements.

Habitat Surveying

In order to utilise the SFCC habitat surveying protocol it is recommended to sit our training course. This 2 day course coveres all aspects of the protocol with a practical assessment in the field.

Smolt Monitoring

in 2014 SFCC and IFM collaborated to deliver a new smolt monitoring workshop hosted by the Tweed Foundation. For the workshop programme and presentations please see here.

Scale Reading

Scale reading training is delivered by Ronald Campbell (Tweed Foundation) with expert support provided by additional tutours. In 2014 we are offering 'An introduction to scale reading' (1-day) and 'Advanced scale reading' (1 day). The SFCC is also currently developing an online tutorial resource with the aspiration to use high resolution photographs featuring fish scales showing varied species and life histories.

GIS

The SFCC has joined forces with The Westcountry Rivers Trust GIS training expert Dr Nick Paling to develop a fully bespoke suit of GIS learning provision tailored to the fisheries and environmental sector. Face-to-face courses take the following structure:

1. Introduction to GIS for environmental managers   (2 day)
2. Advanced GIS for fishery managers                           (2 day)

​The SFCC are also working with Westcounrty Rivers Trust to deliver an innovative online GIS tutorial resource to support these courses and guided self study. These resources are due to be launched on a phased basis beginning in April 2014.

Fish Autopsy

Fish autopsy practical courses are run on an annual basis at Stirling University. For tutorial videos please see the following links filmed at last year's course.

#Fish Autopsy Complete Sampling Procedure

#Fish Autopsy Skin Lesions Sampling Procedure Video

Database Design

Inverness College UHI have kindly created a tailored 2-day database design course for The SFCC. This will equip fisheries managers with the tools to create, store and manipulate their fisheries data in Microsoft Excel 2010.