Researchers on the Burin Peninsula hope government money will help them find a way to harness ocean energy as a source of power for the aquaculture industry.

The Newfoundland and Labrador government has given the College of the North Atlantic $175,000 for its Burin campus.

"If the aquaculture farm with the ewave pump works, you could see a large farm of a size of half a million to a million fish being produced which would employ 15 to 20 people," said Dr. Michael Graham, the project administrator.

"The site itself would grow to something that would employ another 10 or 12 people. Whether that's full time depends on how quickly the ocean energy industry grows."

Graham said similar projects are employing many people in the U.K., in both research laboratories and out in the field.