Fisheries and Oceans Canada

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Science Branch has designed a multispecies dive survey protocol to provide unbiased, coast wide monitoring of benthic invertebrate stocks (as may be required under the updated Fisheries Act) and associated habitat information for a suite of benthic...

A research survey on American lobster (Homarus americanus) and rock crab (Cancer irroratus) has been carried out annually on the Magdalen Islands since 1995 to assess the abundance and structure of populations in this area. The survey is carried out during the first two weeks of September and...

The Gulf of St. Lawrence At-Sea Observer Program is part of the Fisheries Monitoring Policy of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) (https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/reports-rapports/regs/sff-cpd/fishery-monitoring-surveillance-des-peches-eng.htm#toc13). Its purpose is to ensure accurate...

The Fishery Operations System (FOS) is the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) centralized Oracle database that holds commercial salmon fishery catch, effort and biological data. The FOS database was built in 2001 and continues to be the current repository for all data pertaining to...

Atlantic herring NAFO 4T commercial landings data. Landings (in metric tons) per year, per stock (spring spawners and fall spawners), per fishing season (spring and fall) and per gear (fixed and mobile). Two fish samples are taken per week per herring fishing area to determine stock...

PURPOSE: Provide early detection of newly arrived Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) and determine the spread, establishment and spatial distribution of existing AIS within marine waters of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (sGSL), DFO Gulf Region boundaries (northern and eastern coastal shores of...

PURPOSE: To track juvenile Atlantic salmon densities DESCRIPTION: Indices of freshwater production are derived annually from electrofishing surveys in the rivers of Nova Scotia flowing into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Fixed site sampling for juvenile salmon has been conducted most...

PURPOSE: Provide a record of commercial and mature female snow crab abundance and biomass in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Female snow crab represents an index of reproductive stock. DESCRIPTION: Snow crab in the southern Gulf are treated as a single stock in the annual assessments....

PURPOSE: Determine the stock status of Gulf of St. Lawrence Witch Flounder. DESCRIPTION: The yearly biomass estimates of Gulf of St. Lawrence Witch Flounder were obtained using a Bayesian Schaefer Surplus Production model as part of the stock assessment to year 2021. The yearly estimates...

The lobster recruitment project is run by the Fishermen and Scientist Research Society (FSRS) through DFO funding. Fishermen participating in the lobster recruitment project collect information about lobster in their fishing area by fishing 2-5 scientific project traps (SPTs) (fished in fixed...

PURPOSE: To characterize food webs of lake fish communities using stable isotopes, gut content morphology and DNA. DESCRIPTION: Data sets containing fish species caught in Miramichi Lake, McKiel Lake and Nashwaak Lake. USE LIMITATION: To ensure scientific integrity and appropriate use...

PURPOSE: Trawl survey data used primarily for assessing the status of snow crab stocks in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. DESCRIPTION: Tow, catch, and biological information for crab caught during the annual snow crab research vessel trawl survey in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence....

PURPOSE: The research survey provides a fisheries-independent source of information about all marine living organisms that are captured by the fishing trawl used to obtain samples in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. DESCRIPTION: Tow, catch, length frequency, and biological information for...

2014 to 2023 demersal fish group richness in the Estuary and Gulf of St.Lawrence estimated by the number of species found in each grid cell 10 km x 10 km. Input data are from the annual August and September multidisciplinary surveys. Purpose Since 1990, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans...

2014 to 2023 pelagic fish abundance in the Estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The abundance is expressed as a number of individuals per normalized trawl set. Each species is individually represented in the northern Gulf and in the southern Gulf. Input data are from the annual August (North)...

2014 to 2023 demersal fish abundance in the Estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The abundance is expressed as a number of individuals per normalized trawl set. Each species is individually represented in the northern Gulf and in the southern Gulf. Input data are from the annual August (North)...

Mean 2014 to 2023 demersal fish total biomass in the Estuary and Gulf of St.Lawrence obtained by summing the fish biomass (kg) for all species for a tow and then averaging tows in each grid cell 10 km x 10 km. Input data are from the annual August (north) and September (south) multidisciplinary...

Mean 2014 to 2023 pelagic fish total biomass in the Estuary and Gulf of St.Lawrence obtained by summing the fish biomass (kg) for all species for a tow and then averaging tows in each grid cell 10 km x 10 km. Input data are from the annual August (north) and September (south) multidisciplinary...

2014 to 2023 pelagic fish group richness in the Estuary and Gulf of St.Lawrence estimated by the number of species found in each grid cell 10 km x 10 km. Input data are from the annual August and September multidisciplinary surveys. Purpose Since 1990, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans...

PURPOSE: The objective of the sea scallop survey is to obtain fishery independent data on the abundance, size distribution and location of scallops in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and to provide science advice on stock status to fishery managers, decision makers and industry stakeholders....