Funded projects for seal and sea lion science
Backgrounder
Fisheries and Oceans Canada is continuously improving its understanding of seal and sea lion populations and their potential impacts on fish stocks. The Department will provide over $643,900 in funding to Indigenous groups, industry, and academia to learn more about the role seals and sea lions play in our aquatic ecosystems.
| Organization name | Project Title | Province | Project Description | Term/Years | Funding Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalhousie University | Development of a new biomarker technique to evaluate seal diets | Nova Scotia | To develop a new method to assess seal diets in the Northwest Atlantic. Researchers will examine the spatial and temporal variation in stable isotopes of major fatty acids found in fish and grey seal blubber. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis will be used to determine the contribution of various prey species to seal diets. | 2023-26 | $150,000 |
| Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) | Seal Species Distribution, Abundance and Seasonality: Documenting Fish Harvesters' Knowledge and Observations of Seals from Southern Labrador to the South Coast of Newfoundland | Newfoundland and Labrador | To identify local changes in seal abundance, distribution and seasonality over a 20-40 year time period through the collection of current and historical seal observations by fish harvesters. | 2023-25 | $93,924 |
| Heiltsuk Tribal Council | Population Dynamics, Distribution, Diet and Contaminant Load of Pinniped Predators of Central Coast Pacific Herring and Pacific Salmon populations | British Columbia | To collect data on the abundance, distribution, health, diet, and contaminant load of California and Steller sea lion populations in Heiltsuk Territory and identify how these factors have changed over time. | 2023-25 | $200,000 |
| Memorial University of Newfoundland | The ecosystem role of harp seals in Newfoundland and Labrador | Newfoundland and Labrador | To use two ecosystem models to evaluate key parameters of harp seal and cod interactions. | 2023-26 | $200,000 |
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