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INFRASTRUCTURES
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Research ship
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) obtained, in collaboration with five other Québec universities, a $3.5 millions grant for acquiring a research ship to work in the freshwater part of the St.Lawrence River and its estuarine transition zone (from Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Québec Government and UQTR Foundation). This research ship, the Lampsilis, is 25 m long and 7 m wide, with a draft of only 0.8 m, thus allowing to sample all types of habitats in the St.Lawrence River, in an efficient way (low depth shoreline habitats, flood plains, high water velocity zones of the seaway channel and the zone of estuarine transition). The Lampsilis is equipped with the most recent instruments for sampling trophic networks of the river system: spectroradiometer, transmissiometer, fluorimeter, Doppler effect courantometer, hydrolab, geomatic equipment, water, zooplankton, periphyton and zooplankton samplers, bottom and pelagic trawls, wet and dry lab, stereoscopic microscope, and computers. This infrastructure will thus represent an exceptional tool for conducting large-scale and integrated research programs on this portion of the St.Lawrence River.
 
Electrofishing craft
The GREA also obtained a grant (Fonds québécois de recherche sur la nature et les technologies and UQTR Foundation) for acquiring an electrofishing craft to sample fish in the St-St.Lawrence River and its tributaries. The inflatable electrofishing craft (Smith-Root Cataraft SR-17) is highly maneuverable and well-suited for shallow water work in lentic habitats, but can also operate effectively in whitewater conditions. The electrofishing system is mounted on a metal hull supported by three-chamber Dupalon pontoons. The craft has a total length of 6.1 m and weighs 300 kg. It is driven by a 25 HP outboard motor, has a payload of 425 kg, and a total capacity of 730 kg.
The Cataraft allows for sampling of many different species of fish in a broad variety of habitats, including turbid waters and macrophyte beds, that can be difficult to sample by use of more conventional means. The electrodes and generator are configured to allow for effective sampling of a wide spectrum of fish size classes, even in waters of low conductivity.
 
Wet Labs
The GREA has two state-of-the-art wet labs. The first, used for the study of fish ecology, behaviour, and evolution (P. Magnan), has a surface area of 150 m2 and includes 16 holding tanks of various sizes, a flow-through respirometer system, a thermal gradient tank, incubators, and an artificial stream of 15 m x 1 m x 1 m. The second laboratory (H. Glémet) is designed to study fish ecophysiology. This lab is 100 m2 and includes an incubation unit and different kinds of tanks for holding young and adult fish or for quarantine. The two laboratories are equipped with electronic systems to control and survey different parameters (temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, photoperiod, hardness, conductivity) to a main server. This server also integrates an alarm and remote control systems for these parameters.
 
Appareillages
The GREA also has the following equipment:
Image analyzers, underwater stereo cinematography system, radio-telemetry system, Pit-Tag system, lyophilizer, UV spectrophotometer, PUV spectrophotometer, spectrofluorimeter (Cary Eclipse), spectroradiometer (PUV, Biospherical), Transmissiometer (Wet-labs C-star), tangential filtration system and hydrolab.
 
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