The Government of Quebec will allocate 4 million dollars to its maritime industry

The Government of Quebec has decided to allocate 1.5 million dollars over a period of 5 years to the Centre de recherche sur les biotechnologies marines (‘marine biotechnologies research centre’, CRBM) in Rimouski (Lower Saint-Lawrence region). This support, which corresponds to around 10% of the centre’s annual budget, will enable its researchers to continue to develop the province’s aquaculture and aquatic biomass transformation industry. The adoption of this measure is proof of the Quebec Government’s confidence in the centre’s work, and renews the agreement between its Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the centre for five years instead of three.

In addition, the Government of Quebec has announced a first financial contribution of 2.5 million dollars to the development of ‘blue’ biotechnologies. This sum was taken from the Blue Fund that was established in June 2015 as part of the province’s maritime strategy, and will fund initiatives that correspond to the strategy’s priorities. Even if this this financial support was earmarked for the entire province, eastern Quebec will obviously receive the lion’s share given the importance of maritime economic networks in the Gaspésie and Lower Saint-Lawrence areas.