A Retrospective: Three Quarters of a Century at the Halifax Fisheries Research Laboratory

Abstract

In 1925 a Fisheries Technological Program was begun in temporary quarters on the Halifax waterfront to provide scientific research and technical assistance to improve the handling, processing and quality of fisheries products in Atlantic Canada. From that date through to 1979 (with a move to permanent buildings next door) studies on fish processing (smoking, drying, fresh and frozen storage, protein stability, marine oils, enzymatic and bacterial spoilage and grading systems among others) were conducted and the results transferred to industry, government and international agencies with a high degree of success and benefits. After it was apparent that product quality was affected by the condition of fish prior to harvest, more effort was devoted to physiological studies of live fish. In the 1960s studies concerning live lobster storage and latterly technical support for developing aquaculture ventures, i.e. health studies, nutritional requirements, environmental needs and physical structures, were added. Following the termination of the technological program in 1979 the buildings were used to accommodate elements of the Fisheries Resource Branch until theY'could be re-Iocated in 1997. This retrospective traces the reasons for programs and offers brief sketches of the studies and their application.