Types of Research Funded by PARR

Under the Program for Aquaculture Regulatory Research (PARR), funds will be dedicated to new research studies.

Initial project and research areas are prioritized based on aquaculture regulatory management requirements as identified through the Framework for Aquaculture Environmental Management, and are consistent with the DFO Five-Year Research Agenda.

The DFO Five-Year Research Agenda is designed to support current and emerging priorities and identify those areas that require new scientific knowledge in the medium and longer term. One of the key objectives of the research program is to create new knowledge and methods that will support the development of better advice required for policy and decision making and in particular, ecosystem-based management.

Research supported through the PARR will further DFO's research agenda by delivering on many of the priority areas specified in DFO Science's Five-Year Research Agenda, especially those related to:

  • Ecosystem Assessment and Management Strategies
  • Aquatic Animal Health
  • Sustainability of Aquaculture; and
  • Emerging and Enabling Technologies for Regulatory and Policy Responsibilities.

The long-term research priorities for funding by PARR will be primarily driven by the information gaps and research recommendations identified through a planned Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) science advisory process that will review the scientific literature and evidence available relative to key aquaculture activity-related stressors and their potential effects, as described in three aquaculture Pathways of Effects (POE) diagrams.

PARR Research Priorities Supported in 2012-13
The Program for Aquaculture Regulatory Research (PARR) priorities respond to internal Aquaculture Management needs for regulatory and policy development and decision-making for the sustainable development of the Canadian aquaculture sector.  Based on these needs, current research projects (including renewed and ongoing projects) funded in 2012/13 under the Program for Aquaculture Regulatory Research (PARR) are responding to the following priorities:

  • Area-Based Management
    • Three-dimensional oceangraphic and biological modeling tools
  • Aquatic Invasive Species Management
    • Environmental impacts of tunicate control measures
    • Establishing transfer zones and protocols for controlling green crab
  • Environmental Interactions
    • Cultured-wild finfish interactions
  • Effect of Aquaculture on Freshwater and Marine Habitats
    • Shellfish Aquaculture
      • Cumulative effects on habitat
      • Effect on kelps and sea grasses
    • Finfish Aquaculture
      • Cumulative effects and waste assimilation
  • Ecosystem Carrying Capacity for Shellfish Culture
  • Monitoring Deposition, Resuspension and Transport of Sediment and Waste
    • Organic matter depositional modeling tools
  • Sea Lice Management and Treatment Effects
2012/13 PARR Research Projects

For the 2011/12 Call for Proposals, the following targetted research priorities were identified under a number of common themes:

  • Cultured-Wild Fish Interactions
  • Sea Lice Management and Treatment Impacts
  • Shellfish Aquaculture
  • Aquatic Invasive Species Management
  • Area-Based Management
  • Habitat Impacts (Freshwater and Marine)
  • Environmental Carrying Capacity
  • Depositional modeling tools

For the 2010/11 Call for Proposals, the following targetted research priorities were identified under a number of common themes:

  • Wild/farmed interations
  • Environmental regulations for freshwater farm siting: environmental impacts of deposition
  • Environmental carrying capacity for shellfish culture
  • Evaluation of sea lice therapeutants on non-target species (exposure and effects)
  • Evaluation of environmental impacts to guide HADD authorizations (HADD: harmful, disruption or destruction of fish habitat)
  • Characterization of environmental impacts to hard bottom substrates
  • Establishment of Bay Management Areas for site and fish health management (Development of integrated management zones for finfish and shellfish aquaculture)

For the 2009/10 Call for Proposals, the following research priorities were identified:

  1. Fish Health Management in Aquaculture
  2. Siting Requirements

In 2008/2009 Research was supported in the following priority areas:

  1. Ecosystem Carrying Capacity
  2. Ecosystem and Far-field Indicators of Aquaculture Effects on Fish Habitat
  3. Genetic and Ecological Interactions of Wild and Cultured Fish – Mitigating the Effects of Escapes

Proposals are reviewed and evaluated by the PARR Review Committee. Proposals must clearly identify key research gaps proposed to be addressed in direct relation to the research priorities, and objectives must be clearly aligned with Departmental objectives, as well as the objectives of the PARR. Deliverables and milestones must be relevant to the project objectives. The Review Committee then makes funding recommendations, which are reviewed and approved by DFO Science Senior Management. DFO Science entertains research proposals with specific, targeted research objectives in support of the research priorities set out for a particular year.