Spiny dogfish (Squlaus acanthias), is a species found in Atlantic Canadian waters which is encountered mostly in commercial fisheries. Pop-up Satellite Archival Tags (PSAT) from Wildlife Computers were applied to spiny dogfish from 2008 to 2009 to collect data on depth (pressure), temperature and ambient light level (for position estimation). Deployments were conducted in Canada on commercial fishing vessels from August to October. Wildlife Computers PSAT Mk10 (N=6) were used and 3 of 6 tags reported. One tag was found washed up on shore and was returned. The spiny dogfish tagged ranged in size from 80 cm to 96 cm Fork Length (curved); all 6 were female. Time at liberty ranged from 75 – 234 days and the 43 tags that reported remained on the sharks for the programmed duration. Raw data transmitted from the PSAT’s after release was processed through Wildlife Computers software (GPE3) to get summary files, assuming a maximum swimming speed of 2m/s, NOAA OI SST V2 High Resolution data set for SST reference and ETOPO1-Bedrock dataset for bathymetry reference. The maximum likelihood position estimates are available in .csv and .kmz format and depth and temperature profiles are also in .csv format. Other tag outputs as well as metadata from the deployments can be obtained upon request from: warren.joyce@dfo-mpo.gc.ca or heather.bowlby@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.

The blue shark (Prionace glauca), is a species found in Atlantic Canadian waters which is commonly encountered in commercial and recreational fisheries. Pop-up Satellite Archival Tags (PSAT) and Smart Position and Temperature tag (SPOT) from Wildlife Computers were applied to blue sharks from 2004 to 2008 to collect data on depth (pressure), temperature and ambient light level (for position estimation). Deployments were conducted in Canada on commercial and recreational vessels from mid-August to early October, but mostly in September. A variety of tag models were deployed: PAT 4 (n=16), Mk10 (N=28), and SPOT3 (N=2) and 39 of 46 tags reported. The blue sharks tagged ranged in size from 124 cm to 251 cm Fork Length (curved); 30 were female, 15 were male and 1 was unknown sex. Time at liberty ranged from 4 – 210 days and 16 tags remained on for the programmed duration. Raw data transmitted from the PSAT’s after release was processed through Wildlife Computers software (GPE3) to get summary files, assuming a maximum swimming speed of 2m/s, NOAA OI SST V2 High Resolution data set for SST reference and ETOPO1-Bedrock dataset for bathymetry reference. The maximum likelihood position estimates are available in .csv and .kmz format and depth and temperature profiles are also in .csv format. Other tag outputs as well as metadata from the deployments can be obtained upon request from: warren.joyce@dfo-mpo.gc.ca or heather.bowlby@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.

Emerald Basin on the Scotian Shelf off Nova Scotia, Canada, is home to a globally unique aggregation of the glass sponge Vazella pourtalesi, first documented in the region in 1889. In 2009, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) implemented two Sponge Conservation Areas to protect these sponge grounds from bottom fishing activities. Together, the two conservation areas encompass 259 km2. In order to ascertain the degree to which the sponge grounds remain unprotected, we modelled the presence probability and predicted range distribution of V. pourtalesi on the Scotian Shelf using random forest modelling on presence-absence records. With a high degree of accuracy the random forest model predicted the highest probability of occurrence of V. pourtalesi in the inner basins on the central Scotian Shelf, with lower probabilities at the shelf break and in the Fundian and Northeast Channels. Bottom temperature was the most important determinant of its distribution in the model. Although the two DFO Sponge Conservation Areas protect some of the more significant concentrations of V. pourtalesi, much of its predicted distribution remains unprotected (over 99%). Examination of the hydrographic conditions in Emerald Basin revealed that the V. pourtalesi sponge grounds are associated with a warmer and more saline water mass compared to the surrounding shelf. Reconstruction of historical bottom temperature and salinity in Emerald Basin revealed strong multi-decadal variability, with average bottom temperatures varying by 8˚C. We show that this species has persisted in the face of this climatic variability, possibly indicating how it will respond to future climate change. Cite this data as: Beazley, Lindsay ; Wang, Zeliang ; Kenchington, Ellen ; Yashayaev, Igor ; Rapp Tore, Hans ; Xavier, Joana R. ; Murillo, Francisco Javier ; Fenton, Derek ; Fuller, Susanna(2023). Predicted distribution of the glass sponge Vazella pourtalesi on the Scotian Shelf and its persistence in the face of climatic variability. Published April 2023. Ocean Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/326bfc06-4b48-408f-9a74-1e118665e7b0

Monitoring data from DFO invasive species monitoring programs, along with occurrence information from online databases and the scientific literature, have been paired with high resolution environmental data and oceanographic models in species distribution models that predict present-day and project future distributions of 24 non-indigenous species (NIS) on North America`s east coast, and 31 NIS on its west coast. Future distributions were predicted for 2100, under Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s fifth Assessment Report. Present-day and future richness of these species (i.e., hotspots) have been estimated by summing the occurrence probabilities of NIS. This data set includes the present-day and year 2100 species distribution modeling results for each species, and the estimated species richness. Cite this data as: Lyons DA., Lowen JB, Therriault TW., Brickman D., Guo L., Moore AM., Peña MA., Wang Z., DiBacco C. Data of: Updated species distribution models for marine invasive species hotspot identification. Published: November 2023. Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/1439dcb3-82a6-40fd-a9a4-8f045b20ff5b

Natural areas abutting Lake Simcoe are areas of a continuous vegetation community class that have a minimum size of 1 ha and are wholly or partially within the 30 m buffer zone of the Lake Simcoe shoreline. These areas may be a narrow band of vegetation along the shoreline or larger areas, which extend a greater distance from the shoreline. As described in policy 6.31-SA, the MNR and the MOE will map the location of natural areas abutting Lake Simcoe.

A derivative of DFO's benthic imagery surveys for the Marine Conservation Targets Program in the St. Anns Bank Marine Protected Area (https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/2a55e2b4-cbb6-4fea-b17e-a16f5e99e68f), occurrence records in this analysis represent presence/absence and density of a biogenic habitat-forming species in five drift-camera transects in the southeast corner of the MPA, off the coast of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. Presence/absence and count data of the unstalked crinoid (Heliometra glacialis) were derived from the use of high-resolution Nikon D850 still images (n=428, see link to parent record for more descriptive survey information and complete imagery dataset) and continuous high-definition video observations (approximately one observation every second using a 1Cam Mk6, SubC Imaging camera; n=8522). Densities were estimated by dividing the crinoid counts by the field of view (calculated from lasers with 10-cm spacing). Substrates were reported for each video observation, documenting the dominant substrate (>50% cover) according to a modified Wentworth scale (i.e., sand, gravel, pebble, cobble, boulder, bedrock; Wentworth 1922). Crinoids were observed in ~44% of the area of the five transects (~4811 m2), forming dense beds along sloped features from 77-119-m depths, predominantly on cobble and pebble substrates, reaching densities of up to 59 ind. m-2 and 139 ind. m-2 in the digital still images and video observations, respectively. Cite this data as: Lawton P, Teed L. Fine-scale observations of high density Heliometra glacialis (Crinoidea) beds from five near-seafloor imagery transects from a two-year survey in the St. Anns Bank Marine Protected Area, Atlantic Canada. Published March 2026. Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, St. Andrews, N.B. References: - Wentworth, C.K. 1922. A scale of grade and class terms for clastic sediments. The Journal of Geology 30(5): 377-392.

The National Ecological Framework for Canada's "Land and Water Area by Province/Territory and Ecoregion” dataset provides land and water area values by province or territory for the Ecoregion framework polygon, in hectares. It includes codes and their English and French descriptions for a polygon’s province or territory, total area, land-only area and large water body area.

Map of the percentage of individuals (15 years and over) as identified by the first official language spoken who, during the week of Sunday, May 1 to Saturday, May 7, 2016, were without paid work or without self-employment work and were available for work and either: (a) had actively looked for paid work in the past four weeks; or (b) were on temporary lay-off and expected to return to their job; or (c) had definite arrangements to start a new job in four weeks or less. Data is based on the 2016 Census of Canada, 25 % sample, the universe is the population 15 years and over.

A towfish containing sidescan and video hardware was used to map eelgrass in two shallow northern New Brunswick estuaries. The sidescan and video data were useful in documenting suspected impacts of oyster aquaculture gear and eutrophication on eelgrass. With one boat and a crew of three, the mapping was accomplished at a rate of almost 10 km2 per day. That rate far exceeds what could be accomplished by a SCUBA based survey with the same crew. Moreover, the towfish survey applied with a complementary echosounder survey is potentially a more cost effective mapping method than satellite based remote sensing. Cite this data as: Vandermeulen H. Data of: Bay Scale Assessment of Eelgrass Beds Using Sidescan and Video - Richibucto 2007. Published: October 2017. Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/ca7af8ba-8810-4de5-aa91-473613b0b38d

PURPOSE: Ringed seals (Pusa hispida) rely on sea ice as habitat throughout their life history and inhabit a broad latitudinal range with diverse sea-ice conditions. Anthropogenic climate warming is triggering poleward species redistributions, highlighting the importance of understanding how species distributions and abundance vary along latitudinal gradients. Using ringed seals as a model species, the purpose was to estimate density via aerial surveys along a latitudinal gradient in the eastern Canadian Arctic to investigate latitudinal trends in the ringed seals response to regional variation in sea-ice conditions. DESCRIPTION: Ringed seals (Pusa hispida) rely on sea ice as habitat throughout their life history and inhabit a broad latitudinal range with diverse sea-ice conditions, making them a model species to study patterns in density along a spatial-environmental gradient. We estimated the density of ringed seals from systematic aerial surveys along a latitudinal gradient in the eastern Canadian Arctic to investigate latitudinal trends in the ringed seals response to regional variation in sea-ice conditions. Ringed seals exhibited similar densities at lower and intermediate latitudes, while higher latitudes displayed an order of magnitude lower ringed seal density. This shift is concurrent with the transition in ice conditions from predominantly first-year ice at lower latitudes to primarily multiyear ice at higher latitudes. These findings indicate that the variation in icescapes across the ringed seal’s vast range influences their density. The shift in sea-ice conditions may also have consequences for biological productivity that supports their diet. Our results highlight a likely non-uniform response of ringed seals to ongoing sea-ice recession across the Arctic.