The Maurice Lamontagne Institute (MLI), located on the shores of the St. Lawrence Estuary, is part of Fisheries and Oceans Canada's network of a dozen research centres.
Inaugurated in 1987, the Maurice Lamontagne Institute has some 300 employees, and also welcomes post-doctorate fellows, visiting scientists and students. Many state of the art projects are carried out in collaboration with the fisheries and commercial shipping industries, as well as with universities.
The Maurice Lamontagne Institute houses the Regional Science Branch and the Regional Ecosystems Management Branch of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Quebec Region. Its mission is to provide the federal government with a scientific basis for the conservation of living marine resources, the protection of the marine environment, and safe maritime navigation, as well as to ensure the application of legislation designed for the integrated management of the marine environment and the protection of fish habitat.
Research, monitoring and assessments are conducted, among other things, in relation to fisheries, marine mammals, oceanography, and habitats of the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence and Northern Quebec. The Canadian Hydrographic Service at the Institute is responsible for approximately 60 nautical charts covering the navigable waters of the region.
History
The Institute was inaugurated in 1987. Many of its scientists came from the DFO Centre Champlain des sciences de la mer (Québec City, 1976-1986).
From 1987 to 1991, the DFO Arctic Biological Station (founded in 1948 as "Eastern Arctic Investigations", subsequently the "Arctic Unit" of the Fisheries Research Board) located in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec, was administratively attached to IML.
