In place since 1994 in eastern Canada, the sentinel fisheries program is the result of a collaboration between Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and commercial fishermen. Under this program, contracts are awarded by tender to fishermen to carry out fishing activities according to scientific protocols developed by DFO.
Description of fixed surveys
The fixed gear sentinel fisheries of the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence are conducted in the divisions 4R, 4S and 3Pn of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO).
The gear used is fixed gillnets or longlines. Fishing activities with nets must have a mesh size of 5 ½ inches (140mm) and are limited to a maximum of 12 to 20 nets depending on the region. Longline fishing activities, for its part, must be carried out with traditional J #16 or C #12 hooks and are limited to a maximum of 1000 hooks.
Data
For every fishing activity, the total catch is sorted and weighed by species. Biological data such as length, weight (sampled, per individual, gonad, liver and stomach), sex and maturity are then collected on a sub-sample of cod and Atlantic halibut. Otoliths are only sampled on Atlantic cod.
The catches per tow (presence or absence, count by species, length frequency and catch weight (kg)) are available below.
- The most recent survey is not available
** This record consist of raw data and quality has not been verified
- Publisher - Current Organization Name: Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Licence: Open Government Licence - Canada
Data and Resources
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Sentinel Fisheries - ReportsPDFEnglish French guide PDF
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Length frequencyCSVEnglish dataset CSV
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Length frequencyCSVFrench dataset CSV
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CatchesCSVEnglish dataset CSV
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CatchesCSVFrench dataset CSV
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MetadataCSVEnglish dataset CSV
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MetadataCSVFrench dataset CSV
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Fixed Gear Map dataESRI RESTFrench web_service ESRI REST
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Fixed Gear Map dataESRI RESTEnglish web_service ESRI REST
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Data dictionaryCSVEnglish French guide CSV
Contact Information
Delivery Point: 850, route de la Mer, P.O. Box 1000
City: Mont-Joli
Administrative Area: Quebec
Postal Code: G5H 3Z4
Country: Canada
Electronic Mail Address: gddaiss-dmsaisb.XLAU@dfo-mpo.gc.ca