Multimillion-dollar centre for sturgeon study opens
Official ceremony highlights importance of VIU's big facility
By Walter Cordery, Daily News October 4, 2011
Vancouver Island University's sturgeon program has already helped a B.C. company receive rave reviews for the quality of the caviar it produces.
Justin Henry, the general manager of Target Marine Hatcheries in Sechelt, said recently his company nervously entered an international caviar contest, sponsored by New York-based Travel and Leisure magazine, to see how the quality of his company's caviar compared with caviar from across the globe.
"We came in first," Henry told those attending the grand opening of VIU's new, $5.25-million International Centre for Sturgeon Studies on Monday.
VIU gave Target Marine Hatcheries the eggs the sturgeon grew from in 2000. Eleven years later, the fish from those Fraser River sturgeon eggs had matured enough to produce caviar.
The centre is the first of its kind in North America. Its purpose is to allow researchers the opportunity to address the conservation and protection of sturgeon species worldwide, and investigate the viability of environmentally responsible sturgeon aquaculture through land-based, closed-containment facilities in B.C. and across Canada. VIU has been involved in sturgeon research since the 1980s. It is the only academic institution in western Canada to have captive white sturgeon brood stock, fish old enough to spawn.
In 1991, VIU researchers successfully conducted the firstever captive spawning of Fraser River white sturgeon. Henry's announcement of the quality of the caviar stunned Don Tillapaugh, the director of the new 1,208-square-metre facility.
"I didn't know that you won," Tillapaugh told Henry.
Henry was among the many speakers who praised the work being done at VIU.
"There would be no sturgeon industry in B.C. without the help of Vancouver Island University," he said. "Without it, our sturgeon project would not exist."
Gilles Patry, the president of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, said "this centre serves as a model for building relationships and sharing science with communities - locally and internationally. It is clear that VIU understands the value of opening research to the public and the importance of partnering with local industries."
Tillapaugh said that was a major reason for the centre. "We want to bring academia, industry and other stakeholders together to create more employment for the community."
Though this was the grand opening of the new facility, the ICSS was showcased in July when a conference of the North American chapter of the World Conservation Society attracted 120 sturgeon specialists to VIU in July.
VIU and the city of Nanaimo will host the seventh International Symposium on Sturgeon in 2013. The five-day event is expected to draw hundreds of educators, researchers, environmentalists and sturgeon enthusiasts from across the globe.
"The International Centre for Sturgeon Studies provides students, faculty and staff with labs and equipment that will enable us to learn more about sturgeon and sustainable practices to ensure their long-term viability as a source of food," VIU president Ralph Nilson said.
Sturgeon Centre Opens at Vancouver Island University
CTV Vancouver Island, Posted on October 3, 2011
NANAIMO – Vancouver Island University cut the ribbon on a brand new centre for sturgeon studies. The International Centre for Sturgeon Studies is a state-of-the-art, $5.25 million dollar facility that will be used for the research and development of the sturgeon species. It is the only facility of its kind in Canada.
The two-storey facility has five wet labs and a dry lab that will be used for research. Sturgeon ranging in size and age will call the facility home. Currently, the facility houses smaller sturgeon with the bigger fish expected to arrive later this fall.
Vancouver Island University and the City of Nanaimo is scheduled to host the 7th International Sturgeon Symposium in 2013.
The facility was funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Vancouver Island University, BC Knowledge Development Fund, Island Coastal Economic Trust, Western Economic Diversification Canada, Marine Harvest Canada and Community Futures WestCCAP.
