Under the Surface: Ocean Noise and its Effect on Marine Life
Dr. Jack Lawson was about 10 years old when he watched Jacques Cousteau television documentaries and decided he wanted to work with marine mammals.
“Ever since I was a kid, I used to watch Jacques Cousteau on TV. He would often show something on some diving adventure, and I developed an interest in whales from that.”
While Lawson was finishing his undergraduate degree in Alberta, the head of the department, who knew Jack was going to Arizona to undertake a Ph.D. studying scorpions, ...
Changing Supply
Last month in this column, I talked about changing markets and provided some examples of how the U.S. market for fish products had changed over a 20-year period.
This month, I will focus on how the supply of fish has changed in recent decades.
Markets have two sides — demand and supply. Markets are primarily about the demand side — purchasing and consumption — because that is the reason there is a supply. Without buyers, there would be no suppliers. As I have said before in this ...
Working Together
Using Indigenous and Local Knowledge and Science to Better Manage Capelin
By Chelsea Boaler, Ph.D. Student
Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland
Centre for Fisheries Ecosystem Research
Capelin (Mallotus villosus) is a prominent pelagic forage fish species for piscivorous predators in North Atlantic and Arctic waters.
It is not only a central food source in marine ecosystems, but also holds important subsistence and commercial value for people. Despite the ecological ...
Citizen Science Pilot Cod Project
Citizen scientists count.
The phrase citizen science may be new to you, but it is an old practice. Before the 20th century, science was done by “gentleman” scientists who worked independently such as Benjamin Franklin, Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.
The phrase “Citizen Scientist” was only added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2014 and it’s defined as “scientific work undertaken by members of the general public, often in collaboration with or under the direction of ...
Flipping an Industry
Above photo: Island Aquatech founders Dylan MacIsaac, Brett McDermott and Jordan Sampson with their oyster cage flipper prototype. The three University of Prince Edward Island students are hoping to turn a second-year engineering project into a viable commercial business. Submitted photos
UPEI Students Launching Aquaculture Tech Company Based on School Project
In 2016, three second-year engineering students at the University of Prince Edward Island were assigned to meet with a local ...
Fishermen Pot Their Own Snow Crab Science
Veteran N.L. Fisherman Wayne Russell Says His Own Survey Shows Crab Stocks Healthy
It’s an old story in Newfoundland and Labrador that fishermen and scientists do not often see eye-to-eye on what’s happening out on the water.
As sure as a cold northerly wind sweeps along the coast in the fall, a wave of disputes over the actual state of fishing stocks will follow in the wake.
The province’s snow crab fishery was dealt a drastic blow this year with huge quota cuts after Department ...
Cod – The Challenges in Building a New Industry
Last month in this column, I said the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation will be holding a conference in Gander on November 22 and 23, 2017 on the theme, Cod — Building the Fishery of the Future.
Since then, however, we have had to change the dates to November 28 and 29, because one of our key speakers would not have been available on the earlier dates. Please note that change.
This month, I will talk about some of the challenges in building the new industry that will be discussed ...
Canadian Scientists Call for Additional MPA Improvements
The following letter was addressed to Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard and Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
We, the undersigned Canadian marine scientists, urge the Government of Canada to increase the level of protection currently provided to Oceans Act Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and the National Marine Conservation Areas (NMCAs) through Environment and Climate Change Canada.
We also call for increased transpar...
Initial Offering of the Aquaculture Management Program a Huge Success
By Keith Rideout and Craig Parsons
During the winter of 2017 and in partnership with the Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association (NAIA), the Fisheries and Marine Institute (MI) of Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Community Based Education Delivery (CBED) unit delivered the inaugural offering of the Technical Certificate — Aquaculture Management (CAM) program.
The CAM program grew out of the success of the Technical Certificate in Aquaculture (TCA) that was offered to ...
Canadian Scientific Footage Confirms Use of Narwhal Tusk
For the first time, there is video evidence of Narwhals using their tusks to hit and stun fish prior to eating them.
In collaboration with the community of Pond Inlet and benefiting from Inuit Traditional Knowledge, this first-of-its kind footage was captured by Canadian scientists from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), the University of Windsor, World Wildlife Fund Canada, the Vancouver Aquarium, and by Arctic Bear Productions.
There is a wealth of Inuit Traditional Knowledge and ...
