Newfoundland and Labrador's Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research has grown into the largest seagoing program of its kind in Canada.
But it's in the last of a five-year mandate and there's no guarantee it will continue.
Premier Paul Davis says his Progressive Conservative government will discuss options with Memorial University's Marine Institute.
The government has provided more than $15 million to the centre since 2010, much of it for research on the vessel Celtic Explorer.
But the oil-dependent province has been walloped by lower prices and is reviewing costs as it projects years of deficits.
The centre's director, George Rose, says pure research at sea has helped document the slow recovery of northern cod.
He's retiring this year but says it's crucial that sea-based research continue to support a struggling industry worth about $1 billion a year.
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