The purpose is to further train professionals (post-bachelorettes) already in the workforce and to enhance the education of LSU graduate students by providing a set of specific courses tailored to current issues in fisheries science and management. Upon completion of the certificate, the students will have multi-disciplinary training in fisheries science and assessment, which is in high demand in government and private industry such as environmental consulting. Upon graduation completion of the Certificate Program will be noted, along with the courses taken, on the students transcripts.

Fisheries science and management now requires training in biology, social sciences, economics, statistics, and applied mathematics. Fisheries support major industries in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere. Broadly trained graduates are in demand at federal and state resource agencies charged with resource management, regulation, and permitting, and in private industry such as environmental consulting, or any industry that requires natural resource assessments. This need for trained fisheries scientists is not restricted to Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. Rather, it applies to all states in the US, and to many nations.