This layer details Important Areas (IAs) relevant to important geographic features in the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA). 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 upon their high ranking in one or more of three criteria (Uniqueness, Aggregation, and Fitness Consequences). The distribution of IAs within ecoregions is used in the designation of EBSAs. Canada’s Oceans Act provides the legislative framework for an integrated ecosystem approach to management in Canadian oceans, particularly in areas considered ecologically or biologically significant. DFO has developed general guidance for the identification of ecologically or biologically significant areas. The criteria for defining such areas include uniqueness, aggregation, fitness consequences, resilience, and naturalness. This science advisory process identifies proposed EBSAs in Canadian Pacific marine waters, specifically in the Strait of Georgia (SOG), along the west coast of Vancouver Island (WCVI, southern shelf ecoregion), and in the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA, northern shelf ecoregion). Initial assessment of IA's in PNCIMA was carried out in September 2004 to March 2005 with spatial data collection coordinated by Cathryn Clarke. Subsequent efforts in WCVI and SOG were conducted in 2009, and may have used different scientific advisors, temporal extents, data, and assessment methods. WCVI and SOG IA assessment in some cases revisits data collected for PNCIMA, but should be treated as a separate effort. Other datasets in this series detail IAs for birds, cetaceans, coral and sponges, fish, invertebrates, and other vertebrates. Though data collection is considered complete, the emergence of significant new data may merit revisiting of IA's on a case by case basis.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada has conducted a cumulative human impact mapping analysis for Pacific Canada to support ongoing Marine Spatial Planning. Cumulative impact mapping (CIM) combines spatial information on human activities, habitats, and a matrix of vulnerability weights into an intuitive relative ‘cumulative impact score’ that shows where cumulative human impacts are greatest and least. To map cumulative impacts, a recently developed ecosystem vulnerability assessment for Pacific Canadian waters (Murray et al. 2022) was combined with spatial information on thirty-eight (38) different habitat types and forty-five (45) human activities following the methodology from Halpern et al.(2008) and Murray et al. (2015). The cumulative impact map is provided in a 1x1 km grid used for oceans management by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. For further information, please contact the data provider.

This product displays for Anthracene, median values of the last 6 available years that have been measured per matrix and are present in EMODnet regional contaminants aggregated datasets, v2022. The median values ranges are derived from the following percentiles: 0-25%, 25-75%, 75-90%, >90%. Only "good data" are used, namely data with Quality Flag=1, 2, 6, Q (SeaDataNet Quality Flag schema). For water, only surface values are used (0-15 m), for sediment and biota data at all depths are used.

This product displays for Cadmium, median values since 2012 that have been measured per matrix and are present in EMODnet regional contaminants aggregated datasets, v2024. The median values ranges are derived from the following percentiles: 0-25%, 25-75%, 75-90%, >90%. Only "good data" are used, namely data with Quality Flag=1, 2, 6, Q (SeaDataNet Quality Flag schema). For water, only surface values are used (0-15 m), for sediment and biota data at all depths are used.

This visualization product displays the spatial distribution of fishing related items density per trawl. EMODnet Chemistry included the collection of marine litter in its 3rd phase. Since the beginning of 2018, data of seafloor litter collected by international fish-trawl surveys have been gathered and processed in the EMODnet Chemistry Marine Litter Database (MLDB). The harmonization of all the data has been the most challenging task considering the heterogeneity of the data sources, sampling protocols (OSPAR and MEDITS protocols) and reference lists used on a European scale. Moreover, within the same protocol, different gear types are deployed during bottom trawl surveys. In cases where the wingspread and/or number of items were/was unknown, it was not possible to use the data because these fields are needed to calculate the density. Data collected before 2011 are concerned by this filter. When the distance reported in the data was null, it was calculated from: - the ground speed and the haul duration using the following formula: Distance (km) = Haul duration (h) * Ground speed (km/h); - the trawl coordinates if the ground speed and the haul duration were not filled in. The swept area was calculated from the wingspread (which depends on the fishing gear type) and the distance trawled: Swept area (km²) = Distance (km) * Wingspread (km) Densities were calculated on each trawl and year using the following computation: Density of fishing related items (number of items per km²) = ∑Number of fishing related items / Swept area (km²) Then a grid with 30km x 30km cells was used to calculate the weighted mean of densities in each cell from the formula : Weighted mean (number of items per km²) = ∑ (Distance (km) * Density (number of items per km²)) / ∑ Distance (km) Percentiles 50, 75, 95 & 99 were calculated taking into account data for all years. More information on data processing and calculation are detailed in the attached methodology document. Warning: the absence of data on the map does not necessarily mean that they do not exist, but that no information has been entered in the Marine Litter Database for this area. This work is based on the work presented in the following scientific article: O. Gerigny, M. Brun, M.C. Fabri, C. Tomasino, M. Le Moigne, A. Jadaud, F. Galgani, Seafloor litter from the continental shelf and canyons in French Mediterranean Water: Distribution, typologies and trends, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 146, 2019, Pages 653-666, ISSN 0025-326X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.07.030.

Water_body_dissolved_inorganic_nitrogen - Monthly Climatology for the European Seas for the period 1960-2023 on the domain from longitude -45.0 to 70.0 degrees East and latitude 24.0 to 83.0 degrees North. Data Sources: observational data from SeaDataNet/EMODnet Chemistry Data Network. Description of DIVA analysis: The computation was done with the DIVAnd (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis in n dimensions), version 2.7.12, using GEBCO 30sec topography for the spatial connectivity of water masses. Horizontal correlation length and vertical correlation length vary spatially depending on the topography and domain. Depth range: 0.0, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, 20.0, 25.0, 30.0, 35.0, 40.0, 45.0, 50.0, 55.0, 60.0, 65.0, 70.0, 75.0, 80.0, 85.0, 90.0, 95.0, 100.0, 125.0, 150.0, 175.0, 200.0, 225.0, 250.0, 275.0, 300.0, 325.0, 350.0, 375.0, 400.0, 425.0, 450.0, 475.0, 500.0, 550.0, 600.0, 650.0, 700.0, 750.0, 800.0, 850.0, 900.0, 950.0, 1000.0, 1050.0, 1100.0, 1150.0, 1200.0, 1250.0, 1300.0, 1350.0, 1400.0, 1450.0, 1500.0, 1550.0, 1600.0, 1650.0, 1700.0, 1750.0, 1800.0, 1850.0, 1900.0, 1950.0, 2000.0, 2100.0, 2200.0, 2300.0, 2400.0, 2500.0, 2600.0, 2700.0, 2800.0, 2900.0, 3000.0, 3100.0, 3200.0, 3300.0, 3400.0, 3500.0, 3600.0, 3700.0, 3800.0, 3900.0, 4000.0, 4100.0, 4200.0, 4300.0, 4400.0, 4500.0, 4600.0, 4700.0, 4800.0, 4900.0, 5000.0, 5100.0, 5200.0, 5300.0, 5400.0, 5500.0 m. Units: umol/l. The horizontal resolution of the produced DIVAnd analysis is 0.25 degrees.

Running 6-year analysis of Water body dissolved inorganic nitrogen in the Baltic Sea. Four seasons (March-May, June-August, September-November, December-February). Every year of the time dimension corresponds to a 6-year centred average. Periods span between 1975-2021. Analyses for depths (m) (HELCOM standard depths): 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 275, 300. Data Sources: observational data from SeaDataNet/EMODnet Chemistry Data Network. Description of DIVA analysis: Geostatistical data analysis by DIVAnd (Data-Interpolating Variational Analysis in n dimensions) tool. GEBCO_08 Grid (30 arc-seconds) topography is used for the contouring preparation. Files contain analysed fields, error fields and combined field with the deepest value for each grid point selected. Also pre-masked fields using relative error threshold 0.3 and 0.5 are included. In the analyses the horizontal correlation length is fixed to 80 km and decreasing towards the coastline, the vertical correlation length is varying with depth. Signal to noise ratio is fixed to 1.0. Background fields were created using data for the given time period and season. Log transformation was used in the analyses. No detrending, advection constraints or weighting are applied. Unit is umol/l.

Trends in abundance or diversity of sea ice biota Focal Ecosystem Components across each Arctic Marine Area. STATE OF THE ARCTIC MARINE BIODIVERSITY REPORT - Chapter 4 - Page 177 - Figure 4.1

Estimated consumption of polar cod by Atlantic cod in the Barents Sea (yellow line) and biomass of the Atlantic cod stock in the Barents Sea (red line) (ICES 2016). The blue line is the biomass of the Barents Sea polar cod (Prozorkevich 2016). STATE OF THE ARCTIC MARINE BIODIVERSITY REPORT - <a href="https://arcticbiodiversity.is/findings/marine-fishes" target="_blank">Chapter 3</a> - Page 116 - Box figure 3.4.1