Above: Paul Brett, vice president of Memorial University (Marine Institute), has worked in the institution for nearly 30 years. Submitted photo
On January 15, 1964, the predecessor to Newfoundland and Labrador’s Fisheries and Marine Institute opened its doors on Parade Street in St. John’s.
The idea for what became the Marine Institute originated in 1963 when N.L. Premier Joey Smallwood announced the creation of the College of Fisheries Navigation, Marine Engineering and Electronics to provide education opportunities to the province’s marine industries. 60 years later, the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland has gone from a small public college to a world-renowned post-secondary educational facility offering a wide breadth of educational opportunities in the oceans sector.
“We are a very comprehensive post-secondary institution that does a lot of the things we did in 1964, but the breadth and scope of the kind of educational opportunities is much broader. We still do everything from a one-day training certificate all the way to PhD programming now,” said Paul Brett, vice president of Memorial University (Marine Institute).
“But we’ve stayed very true to being industrially relevant and community driven. We have community-based education delivery where we send faculty across Newfoundland and Labrador, into the Arctic and across Canada, bringing education to communities to help provide access to marine industries.”
The Marine Institute has come a long way from teaching students to repair nets and small engines. While students can still learn a lot of the skills that they could in 1964, the institution has garnered an international reputation for being one of the best schools worldwide for those seeking a career in ocean technology. In the last decade, the Centre for Fisheries Ecosystem Research has become a large part of the school’s growth and worldwide reputation.
“[The Centre for Fisheries Ecosystem Research] is a team of scientists, research scientists and faculty that are studying fisheries ecosystems from a climate perspective and a stock assessment perspective. We have the best in the world, and they’re attracting students to that field of study, and it’s been a big part of our growth,” said Brett.
Another key element of the prestige the Marine Institute carries is its ocean mapping program, which has recently been internationally recognized by the International Hydrographic Organization.
Currently, the Institute is putting its expertise to use with the Generic Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) to map 100 per cent of the world’s oceans by 2030. While there are many hurdles to get there, Brett hopes to look back at the Marine Institute’s achievements during their 80th anniversary in 2044 and say they did just that.
Brett said that while the technology does not currently exist to map 100 per cent of the oceans, he believes that significant investment in organizations like the Marine Institute can bridge the technological gap.
“We’re still not at 30 per cent mapped… 2030 is not that far away; six years from now and we’re still at 30 per cent. When we’re at our 80th in 20 years, I’d like to see us being at a point where we have fully mapped and continue to map the areas that change, so we understand habitat, circulation and biological change based on a changing ocean,” said Brett. “The Institute is leading in partnership with international partners to do a lot of that work from all aspects — from a marine transportation perspective, from a technology and mapping perspective and a biology perspective.”
In the last 60 years, the Marine Institute has gone from educating mostly Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to attracting a wide array of students from around the world.
“Today, we are very much a balance between international students, Newfoundland and Labrador students and Canadian students,” said Brett. “A lot of our outreach and marketability is about creating skillsets for people in industry-responsive programs. So, that’s a great draw. You bring students, and they see opportunity to work in these industries.”
Looking to the future, Brett sees several challenges that the Marine Institute will have to overcome as it heads into its sixth decade. One of the challenges he foresees is the push for the marine transportation industry to reduce its greenhouse gases.
“What does green shipping look like? What do more efficient ships look like? What do new, more efficient fuels and renewables look like in that sector, and what does it mean to the shipbuilding world to actually implement some of those changes? Ships are 30, 40, 50 and if you look at some of our Coast Guard ships, 60 years old,” said Brett. “It takes many years to see these changes implemented.”
In ocean technology, Brett emphasized the need for the school to stay at the forefront of innovation as they prove and implement new technologies in the ocean sectors by training students to take advantage of the latest technological innovations available to them.
In the fisheries sector, climate change and the effect it will have on living resources in the ocean was at the forefront of Brett’s mind as he looked to the future of the Marine Institute.
“In a small place like Newfoundland and Labrador, we’ll see ebb and flows of the cod industry and the shellfish industries such as crab or shrimp. As one rebounds, another decreases. Understanding those couplings is so important, and that’s the kind of work students coming out of our fisheries science programs can help inform,” said Brett.
Finally, Brett wants to see the Marine Institute continue to garner a positive reputation on the world stage that it has worked to establish over its first 60 years.
“One thing that I would like to see in the future for this organization is its global growth as the place to study the ocean,” said Brett. “That is really the guiding point for us — the waypoint — working towards being that global expert. Our vision, Vision 2041, its theme is ‘To the World.’ That’s the kind of work we need to be deliberate about as an institution, and with the support of the provincial and federal governments, I think we can get there.”
