Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is responsible for licensing all aquaculture facilities in British Columbia. The aquaculture licence and conditions of licence are designed to ensure the sustainable operation and development of the aquaculture industry. The following lists contain details related to...

Marine mammal predator control is governed by the Marine Mammal Regulations under the Fisheries Act. Records of marine mammal mortalities are maintained and results reported publicly. Additional licences can be obtained for control of other species. Fisheries and Oceans Canada works with industry...

Mortality at salmon aquaculture facilities is closely monitored. If the amount of dead fish at a farm exceeds thresholds outlined in conditions of licence, a mortality event is said to have occurred and must be reported to DFO within 24 hours of discovery. Facility managers and veterinarian(s)...

This report provides a summary of fish health events reported by aquaculture companies to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). A fish health event is any suspected or active disease that occurs within an aquaculture facility that requires the involvement of a veterinarian and warrants mitigation...

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO’s) Conditions of Licence for finfish aquaculture include requirements to minimize harm to wild fish that swim into facilities. Facility operators must also maintain an incidental catch log, which is a record of wild fish caught at the facility during harvest...

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO’s) Pacific Aquaculture Regulations and Conditions of Licence for aquaculture in B.C. require licence holders to take various fish escape prevention measures, including maintaining infrastructure in a manner to prevent the escape of farmed fish into the...

Mortality at salmon aquaculture facilities is closely monitored. As in any population of wild or farmed animals, there are a number of causes leading to death. While in-depth diagnostic testing takes time, carcasses are routinely assigned to a number of defined categories which can help facility...

Fisheries and Oceans Canada requires operators of active marine finfish aquaculture sites in British Columbia to monitor for benthic (seabed) impacts. The benthic monitoring program is designed to limit the location, area and intensity of impact created by fish farms to the seabed and to support...

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO’s) conditions of licence for marine finfish aquaculture contain monitoring and intervention requirements to minimize the potential exposure of wild and farmed fish to sea lice. Licence holders must submit a Health Management Plan to DFO that includes sea lice...

Fisheries and Oceans Canada requires operators of active marine finfish aquaculture sites in British Columbia to monitor for benthic (seabed) impacts. The benthic monitoring program is designed to limit the location, area, and intensity of impact created by fish farms to the seabed and to support...

This report provides summary fish health data collected by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) from randomly selected licensed marine facilities culturing salmon in British Columbia (BC). Results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening are provided, as well as a list of the bacterial pathogens...

This report provides a summary of sea lice mitigation events reported by marine finfish aquaculture companies in British Columbia to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). A sea lice mitigation event is any measure that is used to bring the sea lice abundance at a facility below the threshold of...

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO’s) conditions of licence for marine finfish aquaculture contain monitoring and intervention requirements to minimize the potential exposure of wild and farmed fish to sea lice. The Industry Sea Lice Abundance Counts report is updated monthly. It shows which...

Fisheries and Oceans Canada's (DFO’s) Atlantic Salmon Watch Program (ASWP) was established in 1991 to study the abundance, distribution and biology of Atlantic salmon in British Columbia and its adjacent waters. The ASWP relies on voluntary reports from Indigenous, recreational and commercial...

For health auditing purposes, a farm is considered active once three pens of fish have been present for 30 days, following entry of the first pen of fish at the farm. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) applies a computerized selection system to randomly select active salmon farms within the fish...

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) issues licences under Section 56 of the Fishery (General) Regulations to authorize the intentional release and transfer of live aquatic organisms into fish-bearing waters or fish-rearing facilities. The federal-provincial Introductions and Transfers Committee...

The data layer (.shp) presented is the result of an unsupervised classification method for classifying seafloor habitat in the Bay of Fundy (Northwest Atlantic, Canada). This method involves separating environmental variables derived from multibeam bathymetry (slope, bathymetric position index),...

Beach core data samples consist of capelin eggs and larvae extracted from beach sites using sediment cores at high, medium and low tide. These sites are identifiable by a location or community code. The capelin egg totals and pre-emergent larvae totals are computed annually and daily. Data...

Five fixed sites at Bellevue Beach inshore area have been sampled with surface plankton tows from 2001-2021. Emergent larvae are sampled from the first to last day of emergence in the summer (July-August), which can result in surface tows being conducted every 24-72 hours for 6-8 weeks. This...

Beach emergence data samples consist of capelin larvae only. These samples are extracted from various beach sites at high tidal conditions, using a modified beach seine with a plankton net fitting that was towed for 40 m along the beach edge. Data series is from 1990-2012. See Nakashima and...