News & Events
Important news / info for current Fish/Aqua students (click here)
Dr. Don Furnell's warm water culture faclility is the first to document the captive spawning of the tropical black ghost knifefish (Apteronotus albifrons)in captivity. The literature is forthcoming. Have a look at some photographs here We will soon be adding a video to this collection.
Check out Julie Vandenbor's (class of 2008) website. She will be in Uganda in East Africa for one month to work with the development of their aquaculture industry. She is hoping it will be part of a life long project to help those in need by providing training to new farmers. There will be pictures and more information about her aquaculture development vision on the "About" tab on her website along with a link to her blog.
Check out the YouTube slideshow by Mohammad Bashar titled One Day On The Ricker. His photos highlight the FISH423 (Fisheries Management) trip to the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo for an exciting day fishing on the W.E. Ricker. The link is also located at the bottom of our YouTube page!
Trout Spawn 2009 It was a cold day in January when we got together to "assist" our trout in their motivations for procreation. We had a great time and ate a lot of pizza afterward to warm our souls!
Anti-Salmon Farming Town Hall meeting on our campus!! Global Week of Action: VIU Nanaimo campus: Saturday, November 14th, 1:00, building 355 room 203. Sponsored by the VIU Faculty Association and hosted by Michelle Young of the Georgia Strait Alliance (GSA). The GSA is participating in the Global Week of Action, an international campaign to raise awareness of the destructive impacts of open net-cage salmon farming world wide. They are calling upon communities to organize town hall meetings with their Member of Parliament to explain what they are doing to protect wild salmon and marine ecosystems from the impacts of open net-cage salmon farming. Click here for the article in the Lake Cowichan Gazette. I want to to organize a group of Fish/Aqua faculty and students to attend. If you are interested please let me know at anne.mccarthy@viu.ca.
RBC Blue Water Leadership Grant Awarded to the Qualicum Bay Enhancement Project:
Trout Unlimited Canada was the proud recipient of a $75,000 Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Blue Water Leadership Grant. Working in partnership with the Nile Creek Enhancement Society and Vancouver Island University, the Blue Water Leadership Grant funds will be used in support of a comprehensive 5-year plan to restore and enhance cutthroat habitat to a number of watersheds entering Qualicum Bay such as Nile Creek. Qualicum Bay is located just North of Nanaimo on the east coast of Vancouver Island. Congratulations TUC, Nile Creek Enhancement Society and Frank Dalziel, Technologist, VIU Fisheries and Aquaculture Department (pictured second from left)! Click here for the full TUC press release.
VIU hosting international sturgeon conference.
Vancouver Island University is preparing to host two prestigious international events: the World Sturgeon Conservation Society’s North American conference in 2011, and the 7th International Sturgeon Symposium in 2013. Click here to read the full article.
If you are interested in attending this conference, please click on the image to the left for more details.
A huge congratulations to Dr. Duane Barker for receiving a Strategic Projects Grant from NSERC totaling $413,417. The project, Defining the ecological and immunological roles of sea lice in the propagation and development of pathogens among farmed salmonids in British Columbia, will be carried out over the next three years. Along with Dr. Barker, members of the collaborative research team 
include Drs. S. Johnson, S. Jones and K. Garver from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Pacific Biological Station), Drs. M. Sheppard, I. Keith and Ms. M. Coombs of BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Dr. S. Saksida of the BC Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences and Dr. D. Morrison and Mr. B. Boyce of Marine Harvest Canada. Up to twelve undergraduate and four graduate students (recent VIU alumni) as well as a post-doctoral fellow will be involved in various aspects of the project over the next three years. With VIU's focus on providing research opportunities for undergraduate students - this funding is cause to celebrate! Way to go Duane! To read the full article click here.
Government of Canada supports most promising student researchers. Carol Bob, a recent grad of VIU’s Fisheries and Aquaculture program, has received her third USRA in chemistry. Bob will spend the summer working in the Department of Chemistry’s Applied Environmental Research Laboratories (AERL) at the Nanaimo campus studying the influence of freshwater chemistry on an invasive algai species. To read the full article click here.
VIU experiments with sustainable food source.
Inside a small, 10'x10' greenhouse tucked away in an inconspicuous corner of Vancouver Island University’s Nanaimo campus, Anne McCarthy points to a lush display of healthy vegetable plants including strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers. The read the full article click here.
Congratulations to the graduating class of 2009: Bachelor of Science in Fisheries and Aquaculture. Click on the photo to enlarge image. For other images from the grad click here
World leader in science & Fisheries and Aquaculture department instructor, Richard Beamish, presented with honorary doctorate from VIU at the 2009 convocation ceremony. To read the full article click here
Undergraduate student research awards administered through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada(NSERC) were awarded to recent fisheries and aquaculture diploma program graduates, Kate Rolheiser and Dan McNeill. Kate will be conducting research on invasive tunicates at the Pacific Biological Station while Dan studies the native basket cockle at the Centre for Shellfish Research. Congratulations to you both!
May 21, 2009. VIU Breaks Ground on the $8.6m Deep Bay Field Station for shellfish aquaculture
April 8, 2009. $8.6M HELPS TO FUND DEEP BAY SHELLFISH RESEARCH CENTRE. An investment of $8.5 million from the federal and provincial governments and Vancouver Island University will help fund a new shellfish research station for Vancouver Island University in Deep Bay and contribute to creating up to 55 direct jobs. Click here to read the funding announcement.
Dr. Helen Gurney-Smith leads genomics research at CSR studies health of shellfish. Click here to read the full article