Accelerating Industry
Commercial ventures can work in synergy with policy to have a greater impact on sustainable ocean use.
The Ocean Frontier Institute has supported, advised, and collaborated on many science and innovation initiatives that are now being commercialized and released to the market to help improve ocean health and sustainability.
Some examples are listed below:
The Institute has advised SafetyNet Technologies on fish behavior and fishing policy to help develop their products that reduce commercial bycatch by using specific wavelengths of light to deter or attract specific species.
The Institute’s Seed Fund supported researchers to develop a Microbial Fuel Cell system to block the production of toxic sulfide in sediments. This technology is being commercialized by DownNorth Technologies to allow coastal aquaculture sites to reduce their impact to the sediments and run more efficiently. It is also being introduced to recirculating aquaculture systems to reduce sedimentation buildup within the recirculation tanks, making production more efficient.
The Institute's Seed Fund supported researchers to develop a Lab on Chip (LOC) sensor to measure Phosphate. The LOC technology revolutionizes how Phosphate is measured in the field and has applications for aquaculture, agricultural runoff, and coastal water monitoring applications. The technology is being commercialized by Dartmouth Ocean Technologies with first products deployed on the COVE Stella Maris and scheduled for an Ocean Supercluster project with Innovasea.
The Institute's Seed Fund supported researchers to develop a novel Graphene-based coating to make antifouling paints for commercial ships more efficient, more durable, and more sustainable, thus improving ocean health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the ships. The coating technology is being commercialized by Graphite Innovation and Technologies and will be applied to commercial vessels in a funded Ocean Supercluster project with Horizon Maritime and Transport Canada.
The Institute’s Large Research Program "Improving Sustainability & Mitigating the Challenges of Aquaculture" helped develop many science and technology outcomes, including the opportunity to use oil made from marine algae grown in tanks to replace wild-caught fish as a key feedstock in salmon farming. This allows salmon aquaculture to be more sustainable and scale faster by reducing the pressure on other fish stocks for feed. The Institute’s researchers are collaborating with Mara Renewables to bring this technology to market.
For further information please contact:
Eric Siegel
Chief Innovation Officer
Email: eric.siegel@dal.ca
Dalhousie University is located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq. We are all Treaty people.
We acknowledge that the lands on which Memorial University’s campuses are situated are in the traditional territories of diverse Indigenous groups, and we acknowledge with respect the diverse histories and cultures of the Beothuk, Mi’kmaq, Innu, and Inuit of this province.
