Since 1979, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has conducted near-annual mackerel egg surveys in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence using a standardized methodology. This survey typically takes place over approximately 10 days in June and aims to quantify mackerel eggs, thereby contributing to the stock assessment of the northern contingent. Sampling is conducted at 66 fixed stations arranged in a predefined grid (see included image for station locations and names). Additional stations—following the same sampling methodology—have also been surveyed off of southwestern Newfoundland, eastern Cape Breton and south of Prince Edward Island, as well as in other regions. The mackerel survey is often coordinated with the Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program (AZMP) for the Quebec region, which takes place around the same time using the same research vessel and similar equipment. While these two surveys are distinct, they are coordinated to complement each other. At each station, a tow using 61 cm bongo nets (333 µm mesh size) is towed following a saw-tooth profile through the upper 50 m of the water column. Tows last approximately 10 minutes at a speed of roughly 2.5 knots. These tows target mackerel eggs and larvae but collect other species and plankton stages. The taxonomic identification and classification of the developmental stages of the samples are then carried out in the laboratory. The number of taxon counted varies between survey years, based on new species encountered and identified. Egg development stages (I–V) are recorded only for mackerel. This dataset includes the records of all ichthyoplankton species sampled during the survey. It includes information for each sampling station, including gear specifications, species identifications, and life history stages. Each unique combination of COLLECTOR_STATION_NAME, COLLECTOR_EVENT_ID, START_DATE, START_LAT and START_LON represents a single sampling event, and all rows sharing this combination correspond to individual samples collected during that event. The dataset covers the period from 1983 to 2024 and is updated annually as new data become available. It is important to note that prior to 2023, nearly all species were systematically counted, with only a few exceptions where presence alone was recorded. However, since 2023, data collection has shifted to presence/absence for all species, except capelin larvae, herring larvae, and mackerel eggs and larvae, which continue to be counted. Note – raw data use with caution – please contact the author if you have any questions. The data processing methods used for the stock assessment are described in detail in the following publication: Lehoux, C., Van Beveren, E., and Plourde, S. 2024. Results of the Mackerel (Scomber scombrus L.) Egg Surveys Conducted in the Southern Gulf of St Lawrence from 1979 to 2022. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2024/037. v + 47 p. https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas-sccs/Publications/ResDocs-DocRech/2024/2024_037-eng.html

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 lyre crab (Hyas araneus) includes the metadata, sample weight, specimen weight, shell width and condition, sex and the right claw height of the specimens measured. This dataset covers the period of 2002 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 for a given year and a fishing area 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.

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. The following species have been sampled by this program from 1976 to present: 1. American lobster (Homarus americanus) 2. American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides) 3. Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) 4. Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) 5. Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) 6. Atlantic lyre crab (Hyas araneus) 7. Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) 8. Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) 9. Arctic Lyre Crab (Hyas coarctatus) 10. Capelin (Mallotus villosus) 11. Common softshell clam (Mya arenaria) 12. Giant scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) 13. Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) 14. Green urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) 15. Iceland scallop (Chlamys islandica) 16. Redfish (Sebastes sp.) 17. Rock crab (Cancer irroratus) 18. Sea cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa) 19. Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) 20. Stimpson surfclam (Mactromeris polynyma) 21. Waved whelk (Buccinum undatum) 22. White hake (Urophycis tenuis) 23. Winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) 24. Yellowtail flounder (Limanda ferruginea) For more information concerning these species, see the «Related Products» section below.

An upper-tier municipality is made up of 2 or more lower-tier municipalities. Municipal responsibilities set out under the Municipal Act and other Provincial legislation are split between the upper-tier and lower-tier municipalities. A lower-tier municipality forms part of an upper-tier municipality. Municipal responsibilities set out under the Municipal Act and other Provincial legislation are split between the upper-tier and lower-tier municipalities. A single-tier municipality doesn't form part of an upper-tier municipality and assumes all municipal responsibilities set out under the Municipal Act and other Provincial legislation. Territorial districts are geographic areas in northern Ontario. They are described in the Territorial Division Act, and are composed of municipalities, geographic townships and un-surveyed territory.

The “Businesses by Census Subdivision” is derived from the Statistics Canada’s Business Register. At the request of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Statistics Canada aggregated the number of businesses per NAICS classification and employment class for each Census Subdivision. The data includes the individual occurrences of a business in each census subdivision by indicating its NAICS classification and employment class. The name, location, and any other identifying information about the businesses has been suppressed by Statistics Canada.

PURPOSE: These data have been updated following a Canadian Science Advice Secretariat (CSAS) Regional Science Advisory Process. Associated publications are available in the citation section below or will be posted on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Science Advisory Schedule as they become available. 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 presented come from Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations. The yearly median estimates are provided, along with uncertainty estimates (2.5th, 25th, 75th and 97.5th percentiles). The values are in thousands of tons of 30+ cm biomass. USE LIMITATION: To ensure scientific integrity and appropriate use of the data, we would encourage you to contact the data custodian.

Part of the Nova Scotia Topographic Database (NSTDB), the landforms theme layer is updated and maintained from aerial photography. Contours, spot elevations, Cut/fill locations along roadways, as well as cliffs and embankments are collected. Landform feature codes and their descriptions are provided with the download in a NSTDB feature code table. Data download also available via GeoNova: https://nsgi.novascotia.ca/WSF_DDS/DDS.svc/DownloadFile?tkey=fhrTtdnDvfytwLz6&id=36758 Map service view also available via GeoNova: https://nsgiwa.novascotia.ca/arcgis/rest/services/BASE/BASE_NSTDB_10k_Landforms_UT83/MapServer?f=jsapi

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 verification of fishing activities at sea by an independent third party, and to provide DFO with scientific data on catches. The fishing industry and DFO depend on the proper communication of this information for fisheries management, monitoring and scientific research activities. Biological data on fish and marine invertebrates collected by the At-Sea Observer Program is one of the sources of information used by DFO to assess the status of these resources. Biological data protocols are the subject of an annual consultation with the biologists responsible for assessing each of the exploited stocks. This dataset contains the sum of weight data for species caught, by NAFO (Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization) sub-division and by year from 1999-2023, from commercial species directed fisheries for stock assessments in the Quebec region. It also includes length frequencies for species caught when required by protocol. To preserve the confidentiality of the fishing industry, data are only presented when fishing activity has been observed on a minimum of 5 vessels in a given NAFO area. The data presented are raw and should be interpreted with caution. They may contain errors such as spatial coordinates, landing weights or inaccurate or unreliable species identifications. A brief review of the taxonomy was carried out by DFO taxonomist cited as collaborator. His comments can be found in the “REMARK_IDENT” column preceded by the code “Claude_Nozere”.

Gridded temperature and salinity of the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence bottom waters including shallow waters. Data are a result of a 3D interpolation on a 1km x 1km x bottom depth grid. They mostly come from the 2 multidisciplinary surveys but all the available CTD data sampled in August and September were used. The dataset contains 24 layers: one layer per year per variable from 2014 to 2023, two layers of temperature and salinity climatologies and two layers of anomalies for the last year. Purpose Since 1990, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has been conducting an annual multidisciplinary survey in the Estuary and northern Gulf of St. Lawrence using a standardized protocol. In the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, these bottom trawl surveys has been carrying out each September since 1971. These missions are an important source of information about the status of the marine ressources. The objectives of the surveys are multiple: to estimate the abundance and biomass of groundfish and invertebrates, to identify the spatial distribution and biological characteristics of these species, to monitor the biodiversity of the Estuary and Gulf and finally, to describe the environmental conditions observed in the area at the moment of the sampling. The southern Gulf surveys are realized using the following standardized protocol: Hurlbut,T. and D.Clay (eds) 1990. Protocols for Research Vessel Cruises within the Gulf Region (Demersal Fish) (1970-1987). Can. MS Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. No. 2082: 143p. The sampling protocols used for the Estuary and northern Gulf surveys are described in details in the following publications: Bourdages, H., Archambault, D., Bernier, B., Fréchet, A., Gauthier, J., Grégoire, F., Lambert, J., et Savard, L. 2010. Résultats préliminaires du relevé multidisciplinaire de poissons de fond et de crevette d’août 2009 dans le nord du golfe du Saint-Laurent. Rapp. stat. can. sci. halieut. aquat. 1226 : xii+ 72 p. Bourdages, H., Archambault, D., Morin, B., Fréchet, A., Savard, L., Grégoire, F., et Bérubé, M. 2003. Résultats préliminaires du relevé multidisciplinaire de poissons de fond et de crevette d’août 2003 dans le nord du golfe du Saint-Laurent. Secr. can. consult. sci. du MPO. Doc. rech. 2003/078. vi + 68 p. Annual reports are available at the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS), (http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas-sccs/index-eng.htm). Bourdages, H., Brassard, C., Desgagnés, M., Galbraith, P., Gauthier, J., Légaré, B., Nozères, C. and Parent, E. 2017. Preliminary results from the groundfish and shrimp multidisciplinary survey in August 2016 in the Estuary and northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2017/002. v + 87 p.

Information on the stations of the Quebec hydrometric network**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**