Yves de Lafontaine, New Director of the Maurice Lamontagne Institute

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is announcing the appointment of Yves de Lafontaine to the position of Regional Director of Science and Director of the Maurice Lamontagne Institute. He is replacing Ariane Plourde, who left in December 2013 to pursue her career at the head of the Institut des sciences de la mer de Rimouski.

Mr. de Lafontaine assumed his duties on April 7, 2014 and has over 25 years of experience in scientific management and research. He began his career as an associate research professor at Université du Québec à Rimouski and has since occupied various scientific positions with progressively more responsibilities at Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Environment Canada. He recently co-chaired the St. Lawrence Action Plan's "Water Quality Improvement" committee. Mr. de Lafontaine has been honoured with an International Joint Commission Certificate of Appreciation and an Environment Canada Excellence Award. He has also written or co-written over 100 scientific publications and communications. 

He has a master's degree in oceanography from the Université du Québec à Rimouski and a doctorate in marine biology from McGill University.

He has returned to Fisheries and Oceans Canada to take on new challenges for an ecosystem that has always fascinated him, the St. Lawrence marine environment. By teaming up with the Maurice Lamontagne Institute's scientists, Yves de Lafontaine would like to maintain team excellence and expertise, as well as the Institute's role as a leader in marine science research in Quebec. "The scientific knowledge developed at the Maurice Lamontagne Institute is vital to achieving Fisheries and Oceans Canada's numerous mandates," he said.

The Maurice Lamontagne Institute was inaugurated in June 1987. Located in Mont-Joli in the Lower St. Lawrence, it is one of the main Francophone marine science research centres in the world. Some 350 employees conduct research on fish and marine mammals, biodiversity, the marine environment, oceanography, hydrography, oceans and species at risk management, and the protection of fisheries. The Institute is also home to the Canadian Coast Guard teams.

Richard Nadeau
Regional Director General