The aquatic explorers : a history of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada

In 1898 a group of scientists, working without pay, often under hazardous conditions with only the most primitive equipment, began a systematic study of the fishes in Canada's inland and marine waters. The team operated under the aegis of a board of management which was later to evolve into the Fisheries Research Board, a scientific organization that has placed Canada among the world's leaders in fishery knowledge. This history of the Fisheries Research Board examines the aims and achievements of its research, its attempts to deal with the often conflicting demands of pure and applied science, and its confrontations with a frequently uncomprehending and dissatisfied government. The people who shaped and sustained the organization figure prominently in the account. In-depth taped interviews with senior members and employees of the Fisheries Research Board, as well as the Annual Reports and other publications of the Department of Fisheries, have enabled Kenneth Johnstone to produce a rich history of a remarkable scientific organization. Contents 5 Illustrations 9 Preface 13 1. Canada’s fisheries to Confederation 17 2. Prelude to the Board: the political background 34 3. The first Board and the movable station, 1898-1907 45 4. Go Home Bay, 1901-13 62 5. The permanent station at St Andrews, 1908-11 68 6. The Pacific Biological Station, 1908-11 77 7. Board of Management to Biological Board, 1898-1912 86 8. Atlantic work by the Biological Board, 1912-21 93 9. Pacific work by the Biological Board, 1912-21 108 10. The Board and the Assistant Deputy Minister: a confrontation 115 11. Practical biological and technological research, 1921-5 120 12. Widening horizons, 1925-30 132 13. The depression: contraction and consolidation 152 14. Changing goals : the later Cameron period, 1937-47 179 15. The joint chairmanship, 1947-53 198 16. The Kask decade, 1953-63 223 17. The Ricker interim, 1963-4 245 18. The Hayes regime, 1964-9 261 19. International agreements and commissions 288 20. The new university marine stations 304 21. The Weir y ear s, 1969-72 312 22. Publications and reports 325 Appendixes 343 Sources 349 Index 353 Published in cooperation with the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, the Scientific Information and Publications Branch, Fisheries and Marine Service, Dept. of Fisheries and Environment