"ST*Rfish" educational website expansion to mark Seaweek 2003

7 March 2003

The Ministry of Fisheries popular "ST*Rfish" educational website will be expanded to provide more information on marine biodiversity, communications manager, Alan Meek announced today to mark Seaweek, March 9-16.

The new material has been developed by Learning Media with significant teacher input to ensure it meets the curriculum needs of secondary students, said Mr Meek. We expect to commence adding the material to the website within a few weeks.

Topics include introduced marine pests (economics); how human activity can affect biosecurity and biodiversity (geography); describing the impact of human activities on the ecosystem (science); and how and why people view resources differently (social studies).

The "ST*Rfish" website, at www.starfish.govt.nz provides a wide range of student and teacher resources relating to New Zealand fisheries and real fisheries management issues. The site includes teacher notes, student activities and fact sheets. Mr Meek said the website had proved very popular since its inception with user sessions currently running at around 17,000 a month.

The Ministry of Fisheries has for a number of years provided financial support for Seaweek, an annual event that aims to increase awareness and knowledge of New Zealand's unique marine environment.

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