Lotek: A speech by Jim Lotimer, President

Assessing the Environment
from the Perspective of the Animal

A speech given by Lotek President Jim Lotimer at the University of Waterloo on June 7, 1999, at a ceremony recognizing Lotek's sponsorship of the industrial Chair at the University's Faculty of Science.

"Ladies and Gentlemen,

First, let me thank you all for attending today's great celebration, and for giving me the opportunity to speak with you.

We are here to recognize the power of teamwork - significant achievements from individuals, corporations, academic institutes and governments - which together have focused over two million dollars on research and development towards the goal of assessing the environment from the perspective of the animal, through the Waterloo Biotelemetry Institute.

I would like to extend Lotek's appreciation to the University of Waterloo for its financial contributions and to those individuals whose encouragement and support was most welcomed. Specifically, to mention just a few, John Tompson, Carolyn Hansson, Geoff Power, Bill Taylor, Barry Scott and of course Scott McKinley.

Also, I would like to extend a special thanks to the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council for their generous financial support. It is obvious to me that NSERC shares our vision and belief that enhancing our knowledge of the environment will lead to an understanding of a sustainable future.

At Lotek Engineering in Newmarket, a significant portion of our sales come from fisheries-related markets. At Lotek Marine Technologies in St John's Newfoundland, virtually all our sales are fisheries related. Combined, a good part of Lotek's total business - which involves over 100 dedicated employees - is to markets in fisheries research, conservation, management, stock assessment, mitigation processes and data collection and analysis.

Why?

Did you realize that:

• Three fifths of the world's population depends on fish for their main source of protein.
• From the polar seas to the tropics, eight out of ten ocean species are in decline or endangered.
• In a third of the Pacific, plankton that form the foundation of the marine food chain, are vanishing.
• In every corner of the planet, increasing temperatures are obliterating some species, while driving others into unfamiliar waters.

As science scrambles to make sense of uneven data, evidence points to an alarming conclusion: the sea, the cradle of life, may be dying. Scientists feel the most obvious killers are:

What will the consequence be? Loss of jobs? Starvation? Armed conflict?

Some other points to consider:

• Oceans, rivers and lakes are big places, full of myriad creatures, whose complex relationships mankind has barely begun to identify, - let alone understand.
• To study it scientists must look beneath the surface, which is expensive.
• In developing countries, which take three-quarters of the world's fish, science of any kind is a luxury.
• In Canada, which exports 3 billion dollars worth of seafood a year, research, until recently, focused almost exclusively on ways to find, count and catch more fish.

The bottom line: the limits of scientific knowledge leave some of the most critical questions without any answer.

As Richard Cashin, Chairman of the task force on the Atlantic Fishery reported, we face a disaster of monumental proportions.

Can Lotek and the Waterloo Biotelemetry Institute help?

You bet we can.

We believe that the animal knows best. Together, we plan to develop advanced equipment and analytical techniques that, when placed on free ranging wild animals and fish, provide the world with the knowledge required to scientifically validate and assess the environment from the perspective of the animal.

Already we are able to monitor the migration and habitat needs of hundreds of seals, whales, polar bears, moose, fish and many other species worldwide, through advanced and complex satellite systems.

• In aquaculture cages we keep track of and identify lost or released salmon, and we intend to monitor and report on their physiology to assist farmers with efficiencies.
• Tens of thousands of electronic tags, individually coded and custom built for the animal, monitor the survival of the wild pacific salmon stocks, both adult and juvenile. We track them up and down rivers, in Canada and the US, around and through hydro electric dams, past commercial and sport fisherman, through locks, to the spawning ground and then back to the ocean, ultimately providing a means for the fish to design their own bypass systems and survival. And now we follow their needs, even in the oceans, with data archival tags that use the sun to calculate latitude and longitude and store their data for up to twenty years.
• We monitor the physiological impact to individual fish when caught and released by sports fisheries in order to assist with the development of policies and standards.
• We look at pollution impacts and toxins through the eyes of the animal.
• The list goes on and on.

The day will come when much of this data and analysis is available in real time on the Internet. Scientists throughout the world will be able to collaborate more readily, examining problems, even emergencies such as oil spills, and proposing solutions from the perspective of the animal. Solutions that respond directly to the needs of the animal, and thus the environment.

Together, Lotek and the Waterloo Biotelemetry Institute intend to provide the most advanced products and capabilities in the world.

Our goal, and our passion, is to deliver innovative technology for a sustainable future."