Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has been conducting surface water trawl surveys since 1992 in the coastal waters of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Alaska and in the high seas of the Gulf of Alaska. These surveys initially focused on determining the migratory patterns (1992-2002) and on the growth and physiology (2003-2016) of juvenile Pacific Salmon. Data collected in shelf and slope waters at depths less than 400 meters off Washington and Oregon State are part of this larger survey series, but are limited to 1999-2001. These surveys focused on determining the migratory patterns of juvenile Pacific Salmon and had funding support from the Bonneville Power Administration as part of the 1995-2011 Canada-USA Salmon Shelf Survival Study. The intent of that study was to monitor and evaluate the effects of ocean conditions on the distribution, migration, growth, and survival of Pacific salmon during their first ocean year, and estimate the subsequent impacts on abundance of Chinook salmon adults returning to the Columbia River system.

These data sets provide information pertaining to epifauna and substrate estimates collected at dockside perimeters of floating docks located in Burrard Inlet and Fraser River Delta, British Columbia, between August and November, 2020. Data sets were compiled and formatted by Meagan Mak. Epifauna diversity was examined along surface perimeters of floating docks in Burrard Inlet and Fraser River Delta in southwestern British Columbia. Diversity estimates were obtained from video surveys collected over three depth-intervals: 1) Splash zone (SZ): depth-interval directly 15-cm above air-water interface; 2) Subsurface zone (SSZ): depth-interval (0-21 cm) below air-water interface; and 3) Deep-water zone (DZ): depth-interval below the SSZ (21-41 cm). Dock substrate consisted of combinations of wood, concrete, tires, plastic-floats, and metal, while epifauna and epiflora included anemones, tunicates, sponge, tube-worms, sea stars, bivalves, crabs, nudibranchs, urchins, barnacles, limpets, chitons, isopods, macroalgae and seagrass. Mussels ranged between 46% and 95% coverage across docks (median: 93%), while frequency of occurrence ranged between 85% and 100% (median: 99%), providing a biological-based substrate for other epifauna. The splash-zone consisted of outcropped mussels, encroached macroalgae from the waterline, and invertebrates above the waterline (limpets, chiton). If present, Ulva spp. typically formed a consistent narrow band (2-3 cm) above the waterline across all docks. Benthic (pipefish, sculpin) and pelagic (perch) fish were associated with epifaunal coverage and pelagic (open-water medium) settings. The Coast Guard Sea Island dock may experience episodic low-salinity intrusions supporting marine organisms at this site (ochre star, sculpin, limpet).

Summary The Quebec region of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is responsible for the assessment of several fish and invertebrate stocks exploited in the Estuary and the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The commercial catches sampling program is one of the sources of information used to complete these assessments. The data collected by this program, at wharf or at sea, offers among other things the advantage of a relatively large spatio-temporal coverage and provides some of the necessary knowledge to assess the demography and the structure of the exploited populations. This program is implemented by specialized DFO staff whose main mandate is to collect biological data on groundfish, pelagic fish and marine invertebrate species that are commercially exploited in the various marine communities. Data This dataset on the Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) includes the metadata, sample weight, fish length, the sex and the number of specimens measured. This dataset covers the period of 1995 to present. In order to protect the confidentiality of the sources, some informations (such as those concerning the vessel) have been excluded and others (such as the date of capture) have been simplified. Entries where there was only one vessel in a fishing area for a given year were also excluded. Further information including the fishing areas coordinates can be found by clicking on the «Atlantic and Arctic commercial fisheries» and «Fishing areas» links below.

From August 6th to September 9th, 2014, Fisheries and Oceans Canada conducted a baseline survey of marine fishes and their habitats on the Canadian Beaufort Shelf and slope. Sampling was conducted from the F/V Frosti at 56 stations along thirteen transects, with an additional three stations not located on transects. Standardized sampling was conducted on the transects at pre-determined depth stations (20-40, 75, 200, 350, 500, 750, and 1000 m) using a variety of sampling equipment including benthic fishing trawls, plankton nets, sediment cores, and CTD and water sample profiles. Presented here is the information on the sampling locations, and the sampling gear deployed at each station.

This record contains two datasets: 1. Raw unfiltered geographic coordinates and accuracy estimates of ringed seals tagged in the Western Canadian Arctic and 2. The location estimate from state-space models using a 12-hr time step. In total, 17 ringed seals were captured, measured, weighed, and tagged with satellite-linked transmitters (SDR-10, SDR-16, SPLASH) in June and July of 1999, 2000, and 2010. The tags, manufactured by Wildlife Computers Ltd. (Redmond, Washington, USA), sent data to polar orbiting satellites. Data were then retrieved via the Argos system (Harris et al., 1990). Tags collected and relayed information on movement (geographic positions) and diving data of the instrumented animals.

The contaminants in fish database is a compilation of contaminant data analysed from fish tissue at the Fresh Water Institute from 1970 to 2005. Data include lab number, region, analysis, organs, species, lake, form (whole fish, headon dressed, headless dressed), weight, and length and contaminant concentrations. Total mercury was the predominant contaminant measured. Results were expressed as ppm or ppb based on the parameter analyzed. Concentrations are expressed based on wet weight.

Ocean physical conditions in the Maritimes Region in 2019 were characterized by cooler surface temperatures, continued warmer bottom temperatures and weaker stratification compared to recent years. Deep nutrient inventories were lower than normal over most of the region, with the exception of the Cabot Strait section where deep nutrients were near or higher than normal during the spring sampling and associated with record-warm water. Anomalies of surface nutrients were negative across the region, with the exception of positive anomalies observed at the deep shelf and offshore stations of the Louisbourg section. The spring phytoplankton bloom was near or slightly earlier than normal across the Scotian Shelf (SS) with near-normal duration. Peak chlorophyll a concentrations during the spring bloom occurred within a narrow time window across the SS. At Halifax-2 (HL2), the spring bloom was characterized by a high amplitude, and a rapid progression and decline. Plankton community changes persisted in 2019 with lower abundance of large phytoplankton (diatoms), mainly lower-than-normal biomass of zooplankton and abundance of Calanus finmarchicus, and higher-than-normal abundance of non-copepods. Arctic Calanus and warm-shelf copepods showed mixed abundance anomalies in 2019, reversing the pattern of 2018. Above-normal abundances of Oithona atlantica, especially at HL2, suggest a greater influence of offshore waters in recent years. Surface temperature in the Bedford Basin was near normal in 2019 with mainly cooler-than-normal temperatures from January to June and near- or slightly-above-normal temperatures from July to December. Bottom temperature and salinity were below normal in 2019 with near- or slightly-above-normal conditions at the start of the year and progressing toward cooler and fresher water from February to December. Surface and deep nitrate, phosphate and silicate were near or below normal, with surface phosphate reaching a record low in 2019. The 2018 Continuous Plankton Recorder data indicated an annual abundance of diatoms close to normal for the Eastern (ESS) and Western Scotian Shelf (WSS), while the abundance of dinoflagellates and the Phytoplankton Colour Index values were near (WSS) or above (ESS) normal. The annual abundance of Calanus CI-IV was near normal (ESS) or slightly below normal (WSS), while C. finmarchicus CV-VI levels were slightly below (ESS) or below (WSS) normal. The abundance of Calanus glacialis (ESS, WSS) and Para/Pseudocalanus and Limacina spp. (WSS) were lower than normal, while that of coccolithphore (ESS, WSS), and copepod nauplii and foraminifera (ESS) was higher than normal. "

With the changing climate conditions, marine traffic along Canada’s coastal regions has increased over the past couple of decades and the need to improve our state of preparedness for oil-spill-related emergencies is critical. Baseline coastal information, such as shoreline form, substrate, and vegetation type, is required for prioritizing operations, coordinating onsite spill response activities (i.e. Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique [SCAT]), and providing information for wildlife and ecosystem management. Between 2010 and 2019, georeferenced high-definition videography and photos were collected for various study sites across coastal Canada. The study areas include Beaufort Sea, Mackenzie Delta channels and Banks Island in the western Canadian Arctic; James Bay, Hudson Bay, Nunavik, Resolute Bay, Victoria Strait, Baffin Island and Coronation Gulf in the eastern Canadian Arctic; Labrador, Bay of Fundy and Chedabucto Bay in Atlantic Canada and Kitimat, Haida Gwaii, North Vancouver Island, Mainland BC and Burrard Inlet in the northern Pacific. Data was collected during ice-free and low tide conditions (where applicable) between July and September. Low-altitude helicopter surveys were conducted at each study site to capture video of the shoreline characteristics. In addition to acquiring videography, ground-based observations were recorded in several locations for validation. Shoreline segmentation was then carried out by manual interpretation of the oblique videography and the photos aided by ancillary data. This involved splitting and classifying the shoreline vectors based on homogeneity of the upper intertidal zone. Detailed geomorphological information (i.e. shoreline type, substrate, slope, height, accessibility etc.) describing the upper intertidal, lower intertidal, supratidal and backshore zones was extracted from the video and entered into a geospatial database using a customized data collection form. In addition, biological characteristics like biobands, water features, fauna, human use etc. observed along the coast were recorded. The data was also validated through ground samples (when available) and a second interpreter QA (quality analysis) was performed on each dataset (excluding Nunavik) to ensure high quality and consistency. The final dataset contains segments ranging in length from 150 m to 2500 m (except Nunavik). The minimum segment length is 45 m for study areas in the west coast that were surveyed in 2018-2019. In total, about 33,700 km of shoreline were segmented within all the survey zones.

Summary The Quebec region of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is responsible for the assessment of several fish and invertebrate stocks exploited in the Estuary and the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The commercial catches sampling program is one of the sources of information used to complete these assessments. The data collected by this program, at wharf or at sea, offers among other things the advantage of a relatively large spatio-temporal coverage and provides some of the necessary knowledge to assess the demography and the structure of the exploited populations. This program is implemented by specialized DFO staff whose main mandate is to collect biological data on groundfish, pelagic fish and marine invertebrate species that are commercially exploited in the various marine communities. Data This dataset on the Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) includes the metadata, sample weight and the shell width of the specimens measured. This dataset covers the period of 2003 to present. In order to protect the confidentiality of the sources, some informations (such as those concerning the vessel) have been excluded and others (such as the date of capture) have been simplified. Entries where there was only one vessel in a fishing area for a given year were also excluded. Further information including the fishing areas coordinates can be found by clicking on the «Atlantic and Arctic commercial fisheries» and «Fishing areas» links below.

Summary The Quebec region of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is responsible for the assessment of several fish and invertebrate stocks exploited in the Estuary and the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The commercial catches sampling program is one of the sources of information used to complete these assessments. The data collected by this program, at wharf or at sea, offers among other things the advantage of a relatively large spatio-temporal coverage and provides some of the necessary knowledge to assess the demography and the structure of the exploited populations. This program is implemented by specialized DFO staff whose main mandate is to collect biological data on groundfish, pelagic fish and marine invertebrate species that are commercially exploited in the various marine communities. Data This dataset on the redfish (Sebastes sp.) includes the metadata, sample weight, fish length, the sex and the number of specimens measured. This dataset covers the periods of 1980-1996, 1999-2013, 2015-2016 and 2019. In order to protect the confidentiality of the sources, some informations (such as those concerning the vessel) have been excluded and others (such as the date of capture) have been simplified. Entries where there was only one vessel in a fishing area for a given year were also excluded. Further information including the fishing areas coordinates can be found by clicking on the «Atlantic and Arctic commercial fisheries» and «Fishing areas» links below.