The Fisheries Research Board of Canada / l' Office des Recherches Sur les Pêcheries du Canada (English acronym: FRB or FRBC) was for about 36 years Canada's principal federal organization for research on aquatic sciences and fisheries. It was officially created in 1937. In 1973 its staff was transferred to Canada's Department of the Environment. The FRB was officially abolished in 1979.

Predecessor organizations and history

In 1893 the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

appointed Edward Ernest Prince the Dominion Commissioner of Fisheries. He advocated a marine scientific station for Canada. In 1898 Parliament funded the establishment of a Board of Management of the Marine Biological Station of Canada with Prince as director and chairman. In addition to Prince as director, the Board of Management consisted of David P. Penhallow as secretary-treasurer and seven trustees. Among the trustees were Robert Ramsay Wright, Archibald Macallum,

Victor-Alphonse Huard Victor-Alphonse Huard (born Joseph-Alphonse, sometimes given as Joseph-Victor Alphonse; 28 February 1853 – 15 October 1929) was a French-Canadian churchman, naturalist, writer and editor. He was a popular educator and promoter of the natural sc ...

, and

Ernest MacBride Ernest William MacBride FRS (12 December 1866, in Belfast – 17 November 1940, in Alton, Hampshire) was a British/Irish marine biologist, one of the last supporters of Lamarckian evolution. Life MacBride was the eldest of the five children o ...

. The initial biological station was designed in the shape of an ark to be placed on a scow for movement along the Canadian coastline. The station could be either moored or hauled up onto land. This floatable station moved from place to place depending upon the scientific project. The station was in operation from 1899 until 1907, when it suffered severe damage. In 1908 Parliament funded two permanent biological stations: the St. Andrews Biological Station,

St. Andrews, Nova Scotia St. Andrews (Gaelic: Cill Rìbhinn) is a rural suburban community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, in Antigonish County , nickname = , settlement_type = County , motto = , image_skylin ...

, and the Pacific Biological Station,

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. The two permanent stations were staffed in the summers by volunteers from universities. In 1912 Parliament passed an act which changed the name of the Board of Management of the Marine Biological Station to the Biological Board of Canada. With more government funding in the 1920s, the Biological Board of Canada hired full-time employees and created laboratories to support Canada industry in fishing and related food processing. In 1937 the Biological Board of Canada became the FRB. After WW II, the FRB created more laboratories and expanded its research on oceanography, fish stocks, and eastern Arctic marine biology. In the late 1960s and early 1970s there were government reorganizations that radically changed the status of the FRB and led to its phasing out.

''Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada''

The ''Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada'' (abbr. J Fish Res Board Can) was published in 33 volumes from 1938 to 1979. The journal was preceded by the ''Journal of the Biological Board of Canada'' (1934–1937) and succeeded by the

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ''Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal which focuses on multidisciplinary field of aquatic sciences. It was founded in 1901 by the Biological Board of Canada, later known as the Fisheries Research ...

. The ''Journal of the Biological Board of Canada'' was preceded by ''Contributions to Canadian Biology and Fisheries''. William Edwin Ricker, a leading fisheries scientist, was the journal's editor-in-chief from 1950 until his retirement in 1973. His famous paper 1954 paper ''Stock and recruitment'' was published in the journal. Ricker's successor as editor-in-chief was James Cameron Stevenson.

References

{{authority control Former Canadian federal departments and agencies 1937 establishments in Canada 1979 disestablishments in Canada Government agencies established in 1937 Government agencies disestablished in 1979