Fisheries and Oceans Canada is investing $1.65 million to increase our ability to monitor the marine environment

RIMOUSKI, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - Dec. 20, 2016) - The Government of Canada has committed to making science the cornerstone of public policy. This is especially the case with regards to the management of the marine environment and marine resources and the protection of the health of our oceans.

On behalf of the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Rémi Massé, Member of Parliament for Avignon-La Mitis-Matane-Matapédia, announced today in Rimouski that a $1.65 million dollar contract has been awarded to the Rimouski-based company Multi-Électronique to design and develop four automated oceanographic buoys.

In addition to the usual surface parameters, the four new automated oceanographic buoys will independently collect temperature and salinity profiles without human intervention. They will also record a range of oceanographic surface observations and meteorological observations. This contract also includes an option for two additional buoys which could be produced for the Pacific Region.

These new buoys will increase our ability to monitor the marine environment in real time. They will be deployed in spring 2017 in the Estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence and in the Atlantic Ocean at sampling stations for Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program, which has been operating since 1998.

Quotes

"Our government is committed to intensifying scientific research and marine environment monitoring activities, in order to ensure sound management of the St. Lawrence ecosystem, with a view to conserving resources and protecting the marine environment. We are taking concrete action to honour our commitment."

The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

"Today's announcement demonstrates our Government's commitment to investing in the health and safety of our marine environments. The automated oceanographic buoys will help collect important data that will support the Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program and will provide insight into the regions' marine ecosystem for years to come."

The Honourable Judy M. Foote, Minister of Public Services and Procurement

"The oceanographic buoy system was designed and developed by a scientific team from Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Maurice Lamontagne Institute, in partnership with the firm Multi-Électronique. I firmly believe in our partner's important role in allowing our scientific teams to monitor, describe and forecast observed changes in the oceanographic conditions in the St. Lawrence ecosystem and in the Atlantic Ocean."

Rémi Massé, Member of Parliament for Avignon-La Mitis-Matane-Matapédia

Quick facts

• This funding comes from the $197.1 million investment in ocean and freshwater sciences, which was announced in May 2016.
• Since 1998, through the Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program (AZMP), Fisheries and Oceans Canada has been assessing the oceanographic conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Atlantic Ocean. The Program aims to increase the Department's ability to understand, describe and forecast the state of the marine ecosystem, as well as to quantify observed changes in the ocean's biological, chemical and physical properties on a seasonal, annual and 10-year basis.
• Certain data are transmitted in real time by satellite, as soon as they are collected in the field, and the analysis of most of the data is conducted in the laboratories of the Maurice Lamontagne Institute in Mont Joli.

Related links

• St. Lawrence Global Observatory: Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program
• Oceanographic Data Management System (ODMS)
• Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS): Annual reports and Zonal advisories

Internet: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca

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