SCIENCE REVIEW 1987 - Bedford Institute of Oceanography

Excerpts from the Log
� A People’s Republic of China delegation in the marine
sciences and ocean resources field visited BIO during August. The
leader of the group was His Excellency Yang Jun, Special Advisor
to the State Council for Science and Technology and Deputy Head
of the State Council Leading Group for Ocean Resources.
� CSS Maxwell and her crew, together with six hydrographers,
transferred to the Newfoundland Region of DFO on September 3,
1987.
� Dr. W.K.W. (Bill) Li of DFO Scotia-Fundy Region Science
Sector’s Biological Sciences Branch (BSB) was the recipient in
September of the 1986 APICS Fraser Gold Medal. This prize,
which is awarded annually to an outstanding scientist (under 40
years of age) in the Atlantic Provinces, recognizes Dr. Li’s
contribution to the understanding of the physiological ecology of
microbial populations in the sea.
� CSS Baffin carried out a successful hydrographic survey
between September 2-22, 1988 in Norwegian Bay located in the
Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Attempts over the past decade had
been unsuccessful due to heavy ice cover. In addition, the Atlantic
Geoscience Centre participated and collected valuable geological
information.
� The Groundfish Subcommittee of the Canadian Atlantic
Fisheries Scientific Advisory Committee (CAFSAC) held its annual
September meeting from 14-24 September 1987 at the St. Andrews
Biological Station. Participants from all DFO Atlantic Regions
provided peer review of stock assessments.
� Oceans 87, the joint MTS/IEEE annual conference and
exposition, was held in Halifax during the period September 28 to
October 1. The conference theme, “The Ocean: An International
Workplace”, was much in evidence with 53% of the papers from the
USA and 14% from outside North America. The Scotia-Fundy
Region was well represented with 25 papers and 13 session
chairmen; AGC provided 11 papers and 2 session chairmen.
� On October 26, 1987 the Bedford Institute of Oceanography
celebrated its 25th Anniversary. The formal program was well
attended by past and present staff. Several official dignitaries
attended; they included: The Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia,
the Premier of Nova Scotia, Mayors of Dartmouth and Halifax, the
Honourable M. Forrestall, P.C.M.P., the Deputy Minister of
Fisheries and Oceans, the Assistant Deputy Minister - Science,
Fisheries and Oceans, the Associate Deputy Minister of the
Department of Energy, Mines and Resources and the Vice-
President, Academic Research, Dalhousie University. In addition to
the congratulations offered by these guests, a telex was received
from the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans commending the Institute
for its excellent achievements over the past 25 years.
� A “BIO 25th Anniversary Student’s Day” was held on
October 29. At the Institute’s invitation, 450 high school students
and their teachers from 21 schools across the province visited BIO
to partake in lectures, tours and displays.
� From November 2 to 9, CSS Dawson carried out geological
surveys on the inner continental shelf from Halifax Harbour east to
Ship Harbour and in the vicinity of Sable Island. This project
involved staff from AGC, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia
Research Foundation Corporation and Seastar Instruments Ltd. The
objectives of the cruise were to ground truth earlier sidescan and
seismic reflection surveys, to map the distribution of seabed
materials on the inner shelf, and to improve our knowledge of
offshore aggregate resources in the area.
� Completion of a herring survey on Georges Bank involving
staff of the St. Andrews Biological Station using the Lady Hammond
(Nov. 2-12) provided positive evidence for resurgence of the
Georges Bank herring stock, which has been economically extinct
since the mid- 1970’s. Electrophoretic analysis of spawning herring
indicates that it is the ‘old’ stock coming back, not another filling in
Tom M. Fenchel (left) received the A.G. Huntsman
Award in 1986 for excellence in research in
biological oceanography, while Xavier LePichon
(right) received the award in 1987 for his
contributions to marine geoscience.