research 54 results

Fishing for Answers

Fisheries Ecosystems, Stocks and Sustainability Focus for MI Researchers A group of researchers at the Fisheries and Marine Institute (MI) of Memorial University believe the ocean is of fundamental importance to Canada and the world. Drs. Noel Cadigan, Paul Winger and Jonathan Fisher are part of the newly created Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI). They will be the principal researchers on projects related to stock assessment, ecosystem assessment and sustainable fishing gear. “We’re ...

Advancing Ocean Exploration and Discovery

Historic Investment Creates Ocean Frontier Institute Memorial is celebrating a milestone that will see researchers and graduate students from multiple disciplines undertake some of the world’s most ambitious research aimed at unlocking the secrets of the North Atlantic. The federal government announced nearly $100 million in funding on Tuesday, Sept. 6, for the creation of the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI), an historic partnership between Dalhousie University, Memorial University of ...

EU Seal Products Ban Unjust, Researcher Says

Unclear in Policy and Legal Context; Became Too Political The ban on the importation of seal products into the European Union (EU) was nothing more than a political play aimed at showing the public the animal-loving credentials of their elected representatives, a Finland university researcher says. Nicholas Sellheim, who holds a Ph.D in Law from the University of Lapland in Finland’s northern city of Rovaniemi and a Masters in polar law, said his research shows that although the EU seal ...

Creating New Competitive Advantages

Last month, I demonstrated that the competitive advantages that have sustained the fishing industry in Atlantic Canada for a long time are no longer advantages for us. Our once-abundant resources are no longer as abundant as they were, and others we compete with have similar resources in greater abundance. Because of free-trade agreements and globalization of supply chains, we have access to good markets on favourable terms — but others have access to the same markets on similar terms, so ...

Corals Chose Me

“Far out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep... we must not imagine that there is nothing at the bottom of the sea but yellow sand.” wrote Hans Christian Andersen in The Little Mermaid. With 71 per cent of the earth covered in oceans and less than five per cent of that explored, it’s no surprise that we still imagine, investigate and make new discoveries about what lies deep at the bottom of the sea. ...

Smile, You Are on Camera

Fisheries science has always been a contentious issue in Atlantic Canada. For years, decades even, the findings and observations of fishermen regarding the state of fish stocks have often conflicted with the data produced by scientific surveys. Fishermen would report decreases in certain stock numbers, while surveys would report the health of the species was fine and vice versa. Everyone knows that scientific data on Atlantic fish stocks is far from a perfect science. It is hard to ...

MI Partners in Global Seafood Market Study

The Fisheries and Marine Institute (MI) of Memorial University has joined an international project aimed at improving the competitiveness of the global fisheries and aquaculture industries. “PrimeFish is a four-year project being led by Icelandic-based Matis, a government-owned, independent research company that will study and analyze the European seafood market in general and specific seafood supply-chains such as cod, herring, trout, seabass, seabream, salmon and pangasius,” said Carey ...

Standing Out

Potentially Unique Strain of DNA Discovered in Eastern P.E.I. Atlantic Salmon There’s something very old and potentially unique swimming around some of the rivers in eastern Prince Edward Island. This is why Scott Roloson, a PhD candidate with the Canadian Rivers Institute at the University of Prince Edward Island, found himself hip-deep in North Lake Creek, collecting salmon smolts, earlier this spring. Roloson and a number of colleagues, including a few from the local First Nation ...

$3-million Federal Investment Benefits Marine Institute’s Holyrood Marine Base

The Fisheries and Marine Institute’s (MI) Holyrood Marine Base will benefit from a $3-million investment from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). The funding was announced in Holyrood by the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for ACOA, who was accompanied by the Honourable Judy Foote, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Member of Parliament for Bonavista-Burin-Trinity and Mr. Ken McDonald, ...

On the Waterfront — August 2016

Thai Union Buying Majority Stake in Lobster Processor Chez Nous Thai Union announced another expansion into the North American lobster industry with a deal to acquire a majority stake in Canadian lobster processor Les Pecheries de Chez Nous (Chez Nous). Under the deal, Chez Nous’s owner Francois “Frankie” Benoit will retain a minority share in the company, which recorded about $38.5 million in annual sales in 2015. “We have recently expanded our facilities and look forward to ...