The Fluvarium

Last week I attended a meeting involving scientists, managers and fishermen about the assessment of one of the local cod stocks. Basically the scientists say there are very few fish and the fisherman (in true fish tales style) say the fishing has never been this good. Fishing is such a huge part of Newfoundland life that the managers generally agree with the fisherman and allow large fishing quotas that are more than likely unsustainable. It was a good, though at times tedious, learning experience. There is almost as much arguing amongst scientists (often Peter and myself vs the rest) than between scientists and fishermen. The best part was that is was held at this building called the fluvarium (on the left of the picture above) at the bottom Pippy Park, a large forested park at one end of St John's. The building is a learning centre about rivers and one side of the basement level is made of glass so that you can see into the natural river flowing along the side of the building. Basically a freshwater aquarium with lots of trout.