We were working on antifreeze proteins. We were one of the first. I'm a physiologist. Choy is a protein chemist, and Peter Davies at Queen's is a molecular biologist. We had started working on the antifreeze protein because it was so unique. There was virtually no genetic work going on by anybody, anywhere, in fish, I mean.
We had already isolated the antifreeze gene. Then there's another friend who ended up calling up at the university and going around the province trying to find places to culture salmon in Newfoundland. I said to him bluntly, “You're not going to be able to do it. They're not freeze resistant.” Choy Hew said to me, “Let's give them the gene.”
As you know, we're always looking for money to do our research. We applied to NSERC's strategic grants program, and rather nicely they gave us our first parcel of money to give it a try. It did take us a few years to figure out how to do it. Nobody else was involved. All that NSERC required was that we show that it might be a benefit to the Atlantic provinces. There were no companies involved at all.