Most of you probably know the show Dragon’s Den. At a Forum preceding next year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Montreal, the students in the CFRN are going to be competing in their very own version, the Shark Tank. In response to a call for proposals to be issued in October, teams of 4-5 students will develop and present research proposals to a panel of judges drawn from the Network. The students responsible for the winning bid will be encouraged to pursue actual funding for their proposed research with support from the Network in the form of mentorship, guidance, access to contacts, and a formal letter of support as needed. 

What we need from you is ideas. Specifically, we want you to identify a wicked, real-world problem in the fishery you work in – a problem that can’t be solved through a simple technical solution, but requires creative thinking, collaboration across scientific disciplines, and cooperation between scientists, fishers and managers. 

Describe that problem in a paragraph, send it to us and we’ll pick three of the best and turn them into separate requests for proposals (RFPs) to send out to the students in the Network. You have until the Friday, September 20 to send in your suggestions to Susan Thompson, CFRN Manager ([email protected]). 

What’s the benefit to you and your organization? First, students will get to hone their skills in proposal development, which will come in handy for future research and career pursuits. Also, we think the quality of the proposals is going to be quite high, and they’re going to be based on actual proposal formats used by government funding agencies. Most importantly, they’re going to be in response to real issues that you define – research questions with a real possibility of getting funded. Network partners will benefit through having the opportunity to explore very relevant, pressing research questions in fisheries. So, if you’re interested in getting some cutting edge, interdisciplinary, and collaborative scientific research done on your fishery, here’s your chance to get the ball rolling with a quality first draft of a funding proposal along with Network support to help make it happen.

Sincerely yours, 

The Shark Tank Organizing Committee 

Courtenay Parlee 

Dan Mombourquette 

Rachel Neuenhoff 

Mike Hawkshaw 

Martin Mallet 

Eric Angel