First of all, on behalf of the Huntsman Marine Science Centre, I'd like to thank the committee for inviting us to present.
I'll give you a brief overview of the Huntsman Centre and I'll ask our executive director, Bill Robertson, to bring you up to speed on the projects we have in front of us and our opportunities to assist or help out on the enclosed containment of Atlantic salmon.
The Huntsman Centre is a federally incorporated, private, not-for-profit, research and science-based teaching institution located in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. It was established in 1969 by a consortium of universities, government departments, and private sector interests, including the Atlantic Salmon Federation, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, New Brunswick Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries, New Brunswick Department of Education, McGill University, Mount Allison University, the University of Guelph, the University of Moncton, the University of New Brunswick, the University of Toronto, and the University of Western Ontario.
Our mission is the advancement of marine sciences through collaborative research and the development of innovation, techniques, and solutions for our public and private partners. The education programs of the Huntsman Centre have trained highly qualified personnel in the marine sciences and the ocean industry sector of the Canadian economy. The school programs have engaged more than 35,000 students, and they range from elementary schools to university to post-graduate-level studies.
The Huntsman Centre has been an active steward of ocean resources by finding ways to educate Canadians about the oceans. The Huntsman Centre has welcomed more than 700,000 members of the general public to our aquarium facilities, informing visitors about Canada's east coast marine ecology and marine-based economy.
What I'd like to do now is ask Bill Robertson, our executive director, to indicate some of the projects we've had and where we are today and where we're going.
Bill.