Instructional Videos

In this video series, Lee Haslam, senior fisheries technician at the Ministry of Natural Resources, demonstrates the steps for processing fish found in the Far North of Ontario.

Part One: Measuring, weighing, and identifying sex and gonad condition of the fish.

Part Two: Removal of the ageing structure of a common white sucker, the left pectoral fin ray, and collection of a muscle sample for contaminant analysis.

Part Three: Removal of the ageing sturcture of a northern pike, the cliethrum.

Part Four: Collection of a muscle sample from a northern pike for contaminant analysis and removal of the ageing structure of a walleye, the otoliths.

Part Five: Recording the data and the collection and storage of ageing structures.

The International Cooperative Programme (ICP) Waters Dissection Certification has become a standard for the dissection and collection of fish samples for chemical analysis throughout Europe with support from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). We are supporting the training of Canadians in this standard in order to facilitate the comparison of data across continents on an apples to apples scale. Dr. Bjorn Olav Rosseland, the Vale Living with Lakes Centre’s Scholar in Residence from 2012 through 2014 was instrumental in this training during his time here.

Dr. Bjorn Olav Rosseland, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, NMBU

ICP Water Fish Dissection

Introductory Lecture to the ICP Waters Fish Dissection

Closing Lecture to the ICP Waters Fish Dissection

Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen are commonly used in aquatic food web studies to illustrate tropic position and dietary source of carbon. In this video, MSc candidate Michelle Gillespie demonstrates step-by-step how to prepare fish dorsal tissue samples for stable isotope analysis.