| Between 1898 and 1939, the Biological Board of Canada became an important exponent of fisheries biology and marine ecology. As the organization grew to become the Fisheries Research Board, it put Canada in the forefront of international fisheries research. How and why this was so is not made clear in the existing literature. This development also had important social ramifications. First, fisheries biology contributed to Canada's emergence as a science-based industrial nation, allowing Canada to develop independently its fisheries policies. Second, marine biological stations in Canada and elsewhere played an important role in professionalizing biology, providing centres of research and employment for biologists outside of the universities. The present study, focusing on the Canadian Atlantic marine biological stations, examines the ties between Canadian academic and industry-related marine research between the two World Wars.;When E. E. Prince founded the first Canadian marine biological station in 1898, biology was still in the process of being defined and consolidated, and marine biological stations were critical to its emergence as a mature science. Since the German research ideal arrived late at Canadian universities, most Canadian university biologists gained their first opportunity for ongoing experimental research in Canada's marine stations.;The marine stations also became sites for advanced-level training, designed to turn out professionals. This study examines the Biological Board's association with Canadian universities through shared students, expertise, and teaching and research facilities, thus providing a case study in the professionalization of biology; it also illustrates how professional science case to terms with government financing and control in Canada. The research interests of academic biologists did not always dovetail with the desires of the Dominion government, which funded the marine biological stations. By the 1920s, the Biological Board had specialized in fisheries biology, with its practical implications for fish management; its scientists also became involved in showing fishermen how to improve their techniques. This study examines the extent to which this new specialization arose out of the biologists' own research interests, and assesses the importance of external pressures coming from government. |
