Gadus Associates: Who we are -- What we do

Gadus Associates is a fisheries science consulting company, owned and operated by Dr. Trevor Kenchington and based in Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia. Gadus offers the fishing industry and other clients a range of specialized professional services in marine fisheries science and the management of commercial fisheries. The company was founded in 1987 specifically to provide everyone involved in such fisheries with ready access to the high-quality, professional scientific expertise that had long been available to governments. To do so, Gadus is forging a new relationship between the fishing industry and the scientific community, founded on the idea that science should serve the fisheries and not the other way around. This approach is also leading towards a different kind of fisheries science, focused on the needs of the industry, rather than on those of government regulators.

Gadus Associates' experience, demonstrated by past projects successfully completed, spans the whole range of marine, commercial wild-harvest fisheries: from inshore artisanal fishing to the corporation-controlled, distant water sector. We have worked on fisheries for a wide variety of species: shellfish as much as finfish, demersal types as well as pelagics. Our clients have included not only fishing companies and fishermen's associations but also government agencies, native peoples' organizations and fishing gear manufacturers. Gadus' projects have been equally varied, including fisheries development, international aid missions, training courses for fishermen, environmental impact assessment, policy reviews and preparation, and interview surveys of fishermen, as well as conventional biological research.

While Gadus maintains a solid focus on local issues and clients in Atlantic Canada, the company works internationally and has direct experience in areas as widespread as the South Pacific, South and Southeast Asia, and both Central and South America.

[world map]
Gadus Associates works throughout the world
This map shows those areas where Dr. Trevor Kenchington has personally worked,
including those where he worked before founding the company

Orientation

Gadus Associates' aim is to provide high-quality, professional scientific services to our clients. In all of its affairs, Gadus is bound by the rigorous attention to truth, integrity and excellence that underlies all professional science.

The company does not maintain a large staff, extensive laboratories nor expensive down-town offices. Instead, Gadus draws necessary expertise from a network of professional specialists, keeps its overheads to a minimum and strives to provide clients with the best scientific services available to them, at a fair price. To ensure that this objective will be met, Gadus Associates guarantees:

If there is another source of scientific assistance
that would serve a client's needs better or cheaper,
Gadus will refer them to it.

Capabilities

Through its own in-house capabilities and by networking with other professionals, Gadus Associates provides its clients with access to expertise in most aspects of fisheries science and its application to marine, commercial fisheries. The company's background extends from the design of surveys and experiments, through work at sea, underwater, in the laboratory or the library, to the provision of management advice, calculation of stock assessments and the preparation of harvesting plans. Gadus also offers training services in applied fisheries science, at every level from a basic introduction to a full professional education. We undertake some marine environmental assessment work, particularly where the impacted environment supports fisheries resources.

Scientific excellence depends entirely on the skills of individual scientists. Gadus Associates is operated by Dr. Trevor Kenchington and the company has been built on his varied professional background, which includes many aspects of applied fisheries biology, from fish taxonomy to population dynamics. His fieldwork experience includes both underwater and shipboard research, with an extensive background in the logistic management of research cruises and in the supervision of research diving operations.

Starting with this solid foundation in resource biology, Gadus has developed links to studies of fisheries oceanography, seabed geology, fishing gear technology, fisheries economics and the social structures of fishing communities, among other areas. Indeed, Dr. Kenchington is an authority on "interdisciplinary fisheries science", the study of the interplay of human, economic, technological, environmental and resource issues in commercial fisheries. Combining this with extensive experience in fisheries management in Canada, Australia and the developing world, he specializes in the application of scientific advice to the management of fisheries. With the addition of the skills and capabilities of its network partners, Gadus Associates aims to be the source of choice for all marine fisheries science services.

Gadus Associates is primarily involved in the harvesting sector of the marine, commercial, wild-harvest fisheries. Aquaculture, freshwater fisheries, sport fisheries, seafood processing and product marketing are all important sectors but ones that Gadus generally leaves to consultants with appropriate specialist knowledge. That does not, of course, prevent us from working with such specialists if a client's needs span across our boundaries.

Clients

Gadus Associates offers its services as scientific support to the commercial fishing industry, to fishing community organizations and to fishing gear manufacturers. The company can also provide its expertise to supplement the in-house scientific capabilities of government departments and major fishing companies. Gadus serves clients ranging from United Nations agencies to small fishing companies, fishermen's associations and native peoples' organizations.

Company History

Gadus Associates was founded in 1987 as a partnership of Drs. Ellen and Trevor Kenchington, with the latter contributing a full-time commitment in fisheries science and the former providing support in such fields as population genetics and marine botany. Dr. Ellen Kenchington left the company in 1988 to take a position in the Science Branch of Canada's Department of Fisheries & Oceans. Since then, Gadus has been wholly owned and operated by Dr. Trevor Kenchington, who is also the company's sole full-time scientist.

For more information on Gadus Associates, our past projects and capabilities, please e-mail us.

Some places to go next:

Gadus Associates' home page
List of Gadus Associates' past projects
List of some species & fisheries studied
List of some of Gadus Associates' clients
Dr. Trevor Kenchington's Curriculum Vitae
Gadus Associates & professional networking
Send e-mail to Gadus Associates at: Gadus@iStar.ca

Gadus Associates, R.R.#1 Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia B0J 2L0, CANADA
Phone: (902) 889-9250 Fax: (902) 889-9251