The long shoreline of the St. Lawrence Estuary bordering the Rimouski-Neigette MRC makes our region a perfect spot for associated activities: for maritime and coastal engineering, for oceanography and oceanology, for fisheries (including underexploited species), for aquaculture, for mariculture and maritime bio-industry, for navigation, and for naval mechanics and construction.

The regional institutions that are involved are: the Institut des sciences de la mer (ISMER) of the Université du Québec à Rimouski, that regroups approximately 30 people, several are high calibre professors; the Maurice-Lamontagne Institute, a Fisheries and Oceans Canada research centre that centres its research on living resources, the marine environment, and hydrography, and employs 400 people.

The Institut maritime du Québec trains personnel in maritime transportation and naval construction and conducts applied research. It is active in the fields of ports, maritime and intermodal transportation, underwater work, security, ocean emergencies, deep sea diving with a diving suit, and numerous other fields.