Course Description
Examining fisheries and wildlife crime through a financial crime lens, this course positions illegal fishing, wildlife trafficking, and related environmental offences as profit-driven criminal enterprises rather than conservation issues alone. Learners will explore how illicit actors generate, move, conceal, and reinvest proceeds through fraud, corruption, money laundering, sanctions evasion, trade-based financial crime, tax offences, and offshore ownership structures.
Enforcement applications are also explored, including predicate offences, evidentiary standards, intelligence-led enforcement, inter-agency coordination, asset tracing, and proceeds-of-crime recovery. Ideal for investigators, regulators, border officials, compliance professionals, and analysts, the course equips learners to identify red flags, connect environmental offending to financial gain, and support more effective disruption strategies.
This fully online course is offered jointly by Dalhousie University and the Canadian Financial Crime Academy (CFCA). Completion of the course will award the Financial Crime Investigation Specialist - Fisheries and Wildlife certification from the CFCA.
Course Outline
- Module 1: Financial Crime and the Criminal Justice System
- Module 2: Sector-Specific Offence Typologies in Fisheries and Wildlife Enforcement
- Module 3: Organized Crime in Fisheries and Wildlife Sectors
- Module 4: Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing
- Module 5: Fraud in Fisheries and Wildlife Sectors
- Module 6: Bribery and Corruption in Marine and Conservation Governance
- Module 7: Sanctions and Maritime Evasion
- Module 8: Trade-Based Financial Crimes
- Module 9: Tax Offences in Fisheries and Wildlife Enterprises
- Module 10: Corporate Ownership and Offshore Concealment
- Module 11: Governance, Risk Management, and Intelligence-Led Enforcement
- Module 12: Applied Financial Investigation Techniques
What You Will Learn
Upon completion of this course, learners will be able to:
- Explain how fisheries and wildlife offences can function as predicate offences that generate proceeds of crime;
- Distinguish between administrative non-compliance and deliberate criminal conduct involving concealment, deception, and financial benefit;
- Identify common offence typologies in fisheries and wildlife sectors, including illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, wildlife trafficking, fraud, bribery and corruption, sanctions evasion, trade-based financial crime, and tax offences;
- Assess how organized criminal networks exploit vessels, supply chains, corporate entities, online marketplaces, and offshore structures to conceal ownership and revenue;
- Describe how intelligence-led enforcement, risk-based targeting, and inter-agency coordination can improve detection and disruption outcomes;
- Apply core financial investigation concepts to fisheries and wildlife cases, including tracing funds, quantifying unlawful gain, identifying red flags, and supporting proceeds-of-crime action;
- Understand how asset restraint, forfeiture, and recovery strategies can be used to disrupt the profitability of environmental crime.
Microcredential
This course provides learners with the opportunity to earn a microcredential. A microcredential is evidence of a skill or competency that is employment related. Dalhousie microcredentials are developed in collaboration with employers, industries, and/or organizations that relate to the content. A microcredential can be displayed on social media pages, digital resumes, personal webpages, and in email signatures. To earn the microcredential in this course, learners will need to successfully complete a competency-based assessment.
Learn more about this microcredential here.
Notes
Group Training: To discuss group training opportunities, please contact us at openlearning@dal.ca.
The Faculty of Open Learning & Career Development recommends an intermediate level of English language proficiency for the most effective learning and participation in our online and face-to-face courses. A list of minimum recommended scores on some common English tests can be found on our website. If you have questions about your English language proficiency and ability to succeed in this course, please contact openlearning@dal.ca.
Recommended For
This course is intended for investigators, analysts, fisheries officers, wildlife officers, conservation enforcement personnel, customs and border officials, regulators, intelligence professionals, prosecutors, compliance practitioners, and policy professionals who need to understand how environmental offences generate and conceal illicit financial gain. It is also suitable for professionals seeking a stronger foundation in the financial investigation of IUU fishing, wildlife trafficking, and related forms of organized environmental crime.
