Subventions et des contributions :

Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier (2017-2018 à 2018-2019).

With densities of up to 500 individuals m-2, the green sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis, is ax000D
dominant grazer in shallow rocky subtidal habitats in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence (NGSL). A green seax000D
urchin fishery entirely dependent on harvesting individual urchins manually is currently in operation at severalx000D
sites in the NGSL. However, success is limited mainly because of the small period, i.e. a few weeks in fall andx000D
winter, during which urchin gonad or "roe" (the urchin's organ marketed for human consumption) must bex000D
collected to minimize variability in quantity and quality. This fishery mainly targets urchin grazing fronts,x000D
leaving in the barrens high densities of undernourished urchins that could form the basis of a viablex000D
commercial exploitation if these urchins were farmed with the right equipment in land-based facilities.x000D
Pêcheries Shipek S.E.C. (PSSEC), a leader in commercial harvesting of key marine fish and shellfish species inx000D
Québec, needs knowledge on the suitability of a custom-made raceway (system of troughs with continuouslyx000D
running seawater) for quick production of high volumes of green sea urchin roe. In this project, we willx000D
examine how urchin stocking density affects urchin aggregation, feeding, and roe yield in the raceway as a firstx000D
step to determining if the raceway can support steady commercial roe production in green sea urchins fed kelp.x000D
Weekly trials will be carried out over 12 weeks during which urchins and kelp in multiple sections of thex000D
raceway will be filmed at regular intervals and mortality, amount of kelp consumed, and degree of aggregationx000D
quantified from the videos. Roe content (somatogonadic index) will be quantified from urchins at the onset andx000D
end of the experiment to determine relationship to stocking density and degree of aggregation. Informationx000D
generated from this new industry collaboration will be used by the company to examine the possibility ofx000D
diversifying the range of species it provides to fishmongers, while exporting a part of its own productionx000D
directly to regional and global urchin roe markets.