Fisheries and Oceans Canada

The Oceans Act (1997) commits Canada to maintaining biological diversity and productivity in the marine environment. A key component of this is to identify areas that are considered ecologically or biologically significant. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Science has developed guidance on the...

During the period of 1990 to 1993, Robin J. LeBrasseur and N. Brent Hargreaves led a juvenile salmon migration research project off the west coast of Vancouver Island BC. This included the development of surface beam trawl gear that could be deployed from a large trawl vessel (CCGS W.E. Ricker)...

Spatial distribution of the relative occurrence of northern wolffish in the annual DFO groundfish research surveys conducted by the Québec (1978-2008) and Gulf (1971-2008) regions. Catch and effort data were aggregated by 100 km² cells. The probability of catching an northern wolffish in a set...

The Coastal Oceanography and Ecosystem Research section (DFO Science) reviewed the presence of Cod in the Population Ecology Division (DFO Science) Ecosystem Survey trawls to describe the likelihood of presence. The survey consists of a stratified random design using a bottom trawl. This layer...

Situated in the Gwich’in settlement Area (GSA), the Rat River is inhabited by anadromous Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma malma) that are harvested by both Gwich’in and Inuvialuit beneficiaries. The harvest of Dolly Varden from the Rat River occurs during the summer at feeding areas along the coast...

Polygons denoting concentrations of sea pens, small and large gorgonian corals and sponges on the east coast of Canada have been identified through spatial analysis of research vessel survey by-catch data following an approach used by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) in the...

Catch, effort, location (latitude and longitude), and associated biological data from groundfish multi-species longline surveys in the southern portion of the inlets and protected waters east of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Introduction The Inside South Hard Bottom Longline (HBLL)...

The MSDI Surface Current Web Service is a dynamic national dataset offering full coverage of surface current visualization in Canadian waters. The service has been developed and managed by the Canadian Hydrographic Service in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada. As with...

Production of a layer that includes the known information on seaweed medium to high density areas in the Chaleur Bay, the Estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence according to a literature review of documents produced between 1995 and 1999. Additional Information Seaweed density areas were...

Identification of significant concentrations of sponges in the Gulf of St. Lawrence biogeographic unit using Kernel density estimation (KDE). This method was applied to create a modelled biomass surface for each taxa and an aerial expansion method was permitted to identify significant...

Greenland Sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) are estimated to have the highest longevity of any invertebrate (392 ± 120 years), making bycatch a significant concern (Nielsen et al. 2016). However, in the Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) region, accurate estimates of bycatch are not often available...

Pepin et al. (2014) stated that three nested spatial scales were identified as relevant for the development of ecosystem summaries and management plans: Bioregion, Ecosystem Production Unit (EPU), and Ecoregion. A bioregion is composed by one or more EPUs, while an EPU consists of a combination...

Feeding areas, breeding areas, concentration and specie present. Data extracted from the Fish Habitat Management Information System (FHAMIS) according to a literature review of documents produced between between 1977 and 2001

A research survey on snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) was conducted from July 7 to July 26, 2019 in the Estuary St. Lawrence River between Forestville, Baie-Comeau and Matane. The main objective of this survey was to assess the abundance of snow crab and benthic species associated with snow crab...

Data were collected during aerial surveys carried out at low tides in June and August 1994-1997, 2000 and 2001. June and August are respectively pupping and moulting seasons, when the haulout sites are intensively used by seals. Features in this layer show the Grey seal distribution and mean...

This layer details Important Areas (IAs) relevant to key cetacean species in the West Coast Vancouver Island (WCVI) ecoregion. This data was mapped to inform the selection of marine Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSA). Experts have indicated that these areas are relevant based...

This layer details Important Areas (IAs) relevant to coral, sponge, and reef-building species in the West Coast Vancouver Island (WCVI) ecoregion. This data was mapped to inform the selection of marine Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSA). Experts have indicated that these areas...

A chlorophyll fluorescence time series was collected at various locations around the coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada for monitoring phytoplankton concentrations. A Wetlabs ECO fluorometer was deployed every few months on a schedule depending on season and sensor availability....

Nekton assemblages in Zostera marina beds and adjacent bare soft-sediments were sampled on the south and eastern shore of Nova Scotia. Sampling gear used were visual snorkel transects and a benthic beam trawl. Fish were identified and size either measured (trawl) or estimated in situ (snorkel...

A history of nearshore benthic surveys of Bras d’Or Lake from 2005 – 2011 is presented. Early work utilized drop camera and fixed mount sidescan. The next phase was one of towfish development, where camera and sidescan were placed on one platform with transponder-based positioning. From 2009 to...