Sept-Îles research commitment

(Posted on 06/04/20)

The Port of Sept-Îles and INREST Northern Institute for Research in Environment and Occupational Health and Safety have welcomed the Canadian Coast

Guard’s research icebreaker Amundsen. The Amundsen carries the Odyssée Saint-Laurent

research program’s third winter oceanography mission, collecting advanced data on the St.

Lawrence Estuary ecosystem in winter.

The Port of Sept- Îles is North America’s largest ore-handling port, with a projected volume of just under 35

million tonnes in 2020 going through diverse, state-of-the-art facilities. Its marine ecosystem observatory

makes it a pioneer on the St. Lawrence system and shows how sustainability is firmly anchored in the Port’s

values and actions.

Lead investigator Jean Carlos Montero-Serrano will come aground briefly with his 25-member

research team from a dozen institutions, including INREST, to meet local stakeholders and media

for a quick rundown of what the mission will be looking for.

That will include sampling at locations within the waters of the Port of Sept-Îles. Those samples

will yield strategic winter results to complement the data already collected by the Bay of Sept-Îles

Environmental Observatory.

“The Port and the Observatory are tremendously lucky to have this opportunity,” said Port of

Sept-Îles president and CEO Pierre D. Gagnon. “The data we have access to as part of the Odyssée

Saint-Laurent research loop will boost our understanding of this precious ecosystem and help us

manage our operations sustainably.”

Sept-Îles’s port area is nationally and internationally recognized for maritime research, thanks to

the tremendous amount of high-quality data generated by INREST and its partners.

“We and our research partners,” said INREST director Julie Carrière, “have developed a host of

resources, like the Environmental Monitoring Observatory for the industrial port area and the

research chair on coastal ecosystems and industrial and maritime port activities. They make it

possible for us to collaborate on this mission today and to really make a difference in the field of

ecosystem conservation. And all this,” said Dr. Carrière in conclusion, “is only possible through

the support of our funding partners, such as the Port of Sept-Îles.”

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