The St. Andrews Biological Station is Atlantic Canada’s oldest permanent marine research facility. Science conducted at the Biological Station encompasses the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine as well as coastal ecosystems and traditional fisheries in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
Scientific research is conducted on a number of themes including: Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Coastal Oceanography, Fisheries and Species at Risk.
As well, the Biological Station is home to
- The Canadian Fisheries Research Network, funded through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The overall goal of the Network is to enhance the ecological and socio-economic viability of Canadian fisheries and to improve the way in which they are managed.
- The Atlantic Reference Centre (EDMO ID 4764), a joint project with the Huntsman Marine Science Centre (HMSC)
History
A floating marine biological station was first established in 1899 in St. Andrews (NB), then moved to Canso (NS, 1901), Malpeque (PE, 1903) and Gaspé (QC, 1905-1907). In 1908, a permanent biological station was established in St. Andrews, more specifically near Brandy Cove. It was officially known as the Atlantic Biological Station; though the name St. Andrews Biological Station starts to appear in literature in 1920, the official change happened in 1949. Its management board evolved in the Biological Board of Canada in 1912, and then in the Fisheries Research Board in 1937. The current building was built in 1932, with subsequent additions and alterations.
In 1944, a group called Atlantic Oceanographic Group formed within the station. The group focused mostly on physical oceanographic research, worked in collaboration with the Royal Canadian Navy and National Research Council. After the war, the AOG continued operations at St. Andrews Biological Station and moved to Halifax in 1960 (and later to Dartmouth at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography).
In 1969 the station leased some of its territory to the new Huntsman Marine Laboratory, now the Huntsman Marine Science Centre, which remains adjacent to the station to this day.
In 1971, the station was transferred to the newly created Department of Environment; in 1976 to the Department of Fisheries and the Environment and in 1979 to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, where it remains to this day.
