This dataset was designed for Environment and Climate Change Canada's (ECCC) National Environmental Emergencies Center (NEEC) for oil spill preparedness and response. The polygons of this layer were selected from the surface geodatabase of coastal ecosystems from the UQAR-MPO project Mapping coastal ecosystems of the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Are represented in this dataset exclusively the polygons whose plant dominance corresponds to a class of macroalgae and presenting a semi-vegetated (25-75%) or vegetated (75-100%) cover. The study area includes all of the estuarine and maritime coasts of Quebec, with the exception of certain sectors, including most of the Lower North Shore and Anticosti Island, with the exception of villages of Kegaska, la Romaine, Chevery, Blanc-Sablon and Port-Menier. Some islands off the estuary and gulf coasts are part of the region covered, such as Île d'Orléans, Isle-aux-Coudres, Île Verte and Île Bonaventure. The mapping of coastal ecosystems was carried out jointly by the Laboratory for Dynamics and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (LDGIZC) of the University of Quebec at Rimouski as part of the Coastal Resilience Project (https: //ldgizc.uqar.ca/Web/projets/projet-resilience-cotiere) funded by the MELCC; and by the Fisheries and Oceans Canada team, as part of its Integrated marine response planning (IMRP) component of the Oceans Protection Plan (OPP),with the objective of updating the Marine Oil Spill Preparedness and Response Regime of Canada. The master geodatabase of coastal ecosystems is hosted and distributed by UQAR on their SIGEC-Web mapping platform: https://ldgizc.uqar.ca/Web/sigecweb The macroalgae characterization was mainly carried out from the photo-interpretation of RGBI aerial photos acquired by the DFO (2015-2020) and oblique helicopter photos acquired by UQAR in 2017. Data from 2959 sampling stations, conducted aboard small boats during DFO field campaigns (2017-2021) were used to detail the nature of algal communities and validate the photo-interpretation. Credits © UQAR-MPO (2023, Laboratoire de dynamique et de gestion intégrée des zones côtières, Pêches et Océans Canada) Provencher-Nolet, L., Paquette, L., Pitre, L.D., Grégoire, B. and Desjardins, C. 2024. Cartographie des macrophytes estuariens et marins du Québec. Rapp. Tech. Can. Sci. halieut. Aquat. 3617 : v + 99 p. Grégoire, B., Pitre, L.D., Provencher-Nolet, L., Paquette, L. and Desjardins, C. 2024. Distribution d’organismes marins de la zone côtière peu profonde du Québec recensés par imagerie sous-marine de 2017 à 2021. Rapp. tech. can. sci. halieut. aquat. 3616 : v + 78 p. Grégoire, B. 2022. Biodiversité du relevé côtier Planification pour une intervention environnementale intégrée dans l’estuaire et le golfe du Saint-Laurent (2017–2021). Observatoire global du Saint-Laurent. [Jeu de données] Jobin, A., Marquis, G., Provencher-Nolet, L., Gabaj Castrillo. M. J., Trubiano C., Drouet, M., Eustache-Létourneau, D., Drejza, S. Fraser, C. Marie, G. et P. Bernatchez (2021) Cartographie des écosystèmes côtiers du Québec maritime — Rapport méthodologique. Chaire de recherche en géoscience côtière, Laboratoire de dynamique et de gestion intégrée des zones côtières, Université du Québec à Rimouski. Rapport remis au ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, septembre 2021, 98 p.

This shapefile dataset was designed using polygons extracted from the Cartography of Coastal Ecosystems of Maritime Quebec geodatabase (2022, Laboratory for Dynamics and Integrated Management of Coastal Zones, Fisheries and Oceans Canada), described in the paragraph below. It consists of polygons with eelgrass and incorporates attributes describing the vegetation cover, the composition of the seagrass beds, the associated ecosystem name, the imagery data that allowed photo-interpretation and the presence or absence of field data. A unique sequence number associated with each polygon makes it possible to trace the paired polygon of the geodatabase of coastal ecosystems to attribute values not detailed in this shapefile. The study area includes all of the estuarine and maritime coasts of Quebec, with the exception of certain sectors, including most of the Lower North Shore and Anticosti Island, with the exception of villages of Kegaska, la Romaine, Chevery, Blanc-Sablon and Port-Menier. Some islands off the estuary and gulf coasts are part of the region covered, such as Île d'Orléans, Isle-aux-Coudres, Île Verte and Île Bonaventure. The Mapping of Coastal Ecosystems of Maritime Quebec was carried out jointly by the Laboratory for Dynamics and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (LDGIZC) of the University of Quebec at Rimouski as part of the Coastal Resilience Project; and by the Fisheries and Oceans Canada team, as part of the Integrated Marine Response Planning Program (IMRP). A classification of coastal ecosystems was carried out on more than 4,200 km of coastal corridor, focusing on estuarine and maritime coasts of Quebec located between the limit of the upper foreshore and the shallow infralittoral (about 10m deep). The mapping method developed is based on semi-automated segmentation and a photo-interpretation of coastal ecosystems, using very high resolution multispectral photographs (RBVI) acquired between 2015 and 2020 by DFO. The classification of polygons is based on the assignment of predefined value classes for the biological and physical attributes under study (e.g., substrates, plant type, vegetation cover, geosystem, etc. ). Helicopter-born oblique photographs and field data helped to reduce the uncertainty associated with photo-interpretation. UQAR and DFO conducted field sampling campaigns targeting the mediolittoral (4,390 stations) and the lower mediolittoral and infralittoral zones (2,959 stations), respectively , which validated some of the attributes identified by photo-interpretation and provided detailed information on community structure . The geodatabase of the Mapping of coastal ecosystems is hosted and managed by UQAR on their SIGEC-Web cartographic platform: https://ldgizc.uqar.ca/Web/sigecweb Credits © DFO (2023, Fisheries and Oceans Canada) Provencher-Nolet, L., Paquette, L., Pitre, L.D., Grégoire, B. and Desjardins, C. 2024. Cartographie des macrophytes estuariens et marins du Québec. Rapp. Tech. Can. Sci. halieut. Aquat. 3617 : v + 99 p. Grégoire, B., Pitre, L.D., Provencher-Nolet, L., Paquette, L. and Desjardins, C. 2024. Distribution d’organismes marins de la zone côtière peu profonde du Québec recensés par imagerie sous-marine de 2017 à 2021. Rapp. tech. can. sci. halieut. aquat. 3616 : v + 78 p. Grégoire, B. 2022. Biodiversité du relevé côtier Planification pour une intervention environnementale intégrée dans l’estuaire et le golfe du Saint-Laurent (2017–2021). Observatoire global du Saint-Laurent. [Jeu de données] Jobin, A., Marquis, G., Provencher-Nolet, L., Gabaj Castrillo. M. J., Trubiano C., Drouet, M., Eustache-Létourneau, D., Drejza, S. Fraser, C. Marie, G. et P. Bernatchez (2021) Cartographie des écosystèmes côtiers du Québec maritime — Rapport méthodologique. Chaire de recherche en géoscience côtière, Laboratoire de dynamique et de gestion intégrée des zones côtières, Université du Québec à Rimouski. Rapport remis au ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, septembre 2021, 98 p.

This dataset was designed for Environment and Climate Change Canada's (ECCC) National Environmental Emergencies Center (NEEC) for oil spill preparedness and response. The polygons from this layer come from the coastal ecosystems geodatabase as part of the Mapping of coastal ecosystems of the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence project. This layer represents semi-vegetated (25-75%) and vegetated (75-100%) zones of which marsh vegetation is the dominant. The study area includes all of the estuarine and maritime coasts of Quebec, with the exception of certain sectors, including most of the Lower North Shore and Anticosti Island, with the exception of villages of Kegaska, la Romaine, Chevery, Blanc-Sablon and Port-Menier. Some islands off the estuary and gulf coasts are part of the region covered, such as Île d'Orléans, Isle-aux-Coudres, Île Verte and Île Bonaventure. The mapping of coastal ecosystems was carried out jointly by the Laboratory for Dynamics and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (LDGIZC) of the University of Quebec at Rimouski as part of the Coastal Resilience Project (https: //ldgizc.uqar.ca/Web/projets/projet-resilience-cotiere) funded by the MELCC; and by the Fisheries and Oceans Canada team, as part of its Integrated marine response planning (IMRP) component of the Oceans Protection Plan (OPP), with the objective of updating the Marine Oil Spill Preparedness and Response Regime of Canada. The master geodatabase of coastal ecosystems is hosted and distributed by UQAR on their SIGEC-Web mapping platform: https://ldgizc.uqar.ca/Web/sigecweb The characterization of marshes was mainly carried out using photo-interpretation of RVBI aerial photos acquired by DFO (2015-2020) and oblique photos taken by helicopter acquired by UQAR in 2017. This dataset also includes the information from validation stations visited by UQAR (2018-2020), used to validate and refine the photo-interpretation.

A research survey on the common whelk (Buccinum undatum) has been conducted biennially in three sectors of the St. Lawrence Estuary since 2005 to assess the abundance of whelk and benthic species associated with whelk habitat. Only data for benthic species associated with whelk habitat are presented in this dataset. The survey was initiated in 2005 following the intensive fishery of the early 2000s in the Upper North Shore region. The three sectors covered by the survey were based on the distribution of commercial fishing effort from 2001 to 2004. Surveys were conducted between mid-July and early August from 2005 to 2019 on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence Estuary between Portneuf-sur-Mer and Baie-Comeau according to a fixed station sampling design. Three sectors were surveyed at each survey: Forestville (69°03'11"W-48°39'24"N and 68°56'02"W-48°46'16"N), Pointe-aux-Outardes (68°35'53"W-48°59'32"N and 68°25'30"W-49°01'06"N) and Baie-Comeau (68°06'04"W-49°08'40"N and 68°05'10"W-49°12'26"N). Since 2007, the sampling plan consists of 55 stations in Forestville, 26 stations in Pointe-aux-Outardes and 11 stations in Baie-Comeau. The targeted depth interval at the three sectors was approximately 5 to 40 m. Specimens were collected using a Digby-type scallop dredge with a total width of 3.04 m consisting of four 19 mm mesh Vexar™ lined baskets to harvest small individuals. Start and end positions were recorded to calculate the distance traveled at each tow using the geosphere library in R. Since 2011, the average tow distance was approximately 300 m. The area covered at each tow was the product of the dredge width and distance. The three files provided (DarwinCore format) are complementary and are linked by the "eventID" key. The "event_information" file includes generic event information, including date and location. The "additional_information_event_and_occurrence" file includes sample size, sampling protocol and sampling effort, among others. The "taxon_occurrence" file includes the taxonomy of the species observed, identified to the species or lowest possible taxonomic level. For abundance and biomass estimates, contact Virginie Roy (virginie.roy@dfo-mpo.gc.ca). For quality controls, all taxonomic names were checked against the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) to match recognized standards. The WoRMS match was placed in the "scientificNameID" field of the occurrence file. Special cases were noted in "identificationRemarks" and selected specimens were confirmed using field photos. Data quality checks were performed using the R obistools and worrms libraries. All sampling locations were spatially validated.

The St. Lawrence Estuary is known as a summer foraging area for several species of marine mammals, including several species of rorquals. Among these is the blue whale, which feeds almost exclusively on euphausiids. Therefore, the abundance, distribution and local density of krill should logically be a strong explanatory variable for the distribution of blue whales. However little is known about the spatial association of blue whales with the aggregation dynamics of krill in eastern Canada. Six years of acoustic surveys, conducted in August from 2009 to 2014, were undertaken to study the medium- and small-scale distribution of krill within the northwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence and estuary. The data shows a mosaic of the maximum annual density of arctic krill (T. raschii) made from these surveys. McQuinn, I.H., Gosselin, J.-F., Bourassa, M.-N., Mosnier, A., St-Pierre, J.-F., Plourde, S., Lesage, V., Raymond, A. 2016. The spatial association of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) with krill patches (Thysanoessa spp. and Meganyctiphanes norvegica) in the estuary and northwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2016/104. iv + 19 p.

A research survey on snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) was conducted from July 1 to July 17, 2018 on the Lower North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence between Havre-Saint-Pierre and Blanc-Sablon. The main objective of this survey was to assess the abundance of snow crab and benthic species associated with snow crab habitat. Only data for benthic species associated with snow crab habitat are presented in this dataset. Data were collected according to a fixed station sampling design consisting of 61 stations, between 46 and 230 meters depth. Specimens were collected using a beam trawl with a total width of 2.8 meters and a total height of 0.76 meters. The codend was lined with a 16 millimeter stretched mesh net in order to harvest the small individuals. The hauls were made at a target speed of 2 knots and a target duration of 10 minutes depending on seabed conditions. Start and end positions were recorded to calculate the distance traveled on each tow using the geosphere library in R. The average tow distance was approximately 25 m. The area covered at each tow was the product of the trawl opening and the distance traveled. The two files provided (DarwinCore format) are complementary and are linked by the "eventID" key. The "Activity_Information" file includes generic activity information, including date and location. The "occurrence_taxon" file includes the taxonomy of the species observed, identified to the species or lowest possible taxonomic level. To obtain the abundance and biomass assessment, contact Cedric Juillet (cedric.juillet@dfo-mpo.gc.ca). For quality controls, all taxonomic names were checked against the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) to match recognized standards. The WoRMS match was placed in the "ScientificIDname" field of the occurrence file. Special cases were noted in the "commentsIdentification" field and selected specimens were confirmed with field photos. Data quality checks were performed using the R obistools and Worms libraries. All sampling locations were spatially validated.

A research survey on snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) was conducted from July 7 to July 26, 2019 in the Estuary St. Lawrence River between Forestville, Baie-Comeau and Matane. The main objective of this survey was to assess the abundance of snow crab and benthic species associated with snow crab habitat. Only data for benthic species associated with snow crab habitat are presented in this dataset. Data were collected according to a fixed station sampling design consisting of 66 stations, between 31 and 279 meters depth. Specimens were collected using a beam trawl with a total width of 2.8 meters and a total height of 0.76 meters. The codend was lined with a 16 millimeter stretched mesh net in order to harvest the small individuals. The hauls were made at a target speed of 2 knots and a target duration of 15 minutes. Start and end positions were recorded to calculate the distance traveled on each tow using the geosphere library in R. The average tow distance was approximately 25 m. The area covered at each tow was the product of the trawl opening and the distance traveled. The two files provided (DarwinCore format) are complementary and are linked by the "eventID" key. The "Activity_Information" file includes generic activity information, including date and location. The "occurrence_taxon" file includes the taxonomy of the species observed, identified to the species or lowest possible taxonomic level. To obtain the abundance and biomass assessment, contact Cedric Juillet (cedric.juillet@dfo-mpo.gc.ca). For quality controls, all taxonomic names were checked against the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) to match recognized standards. The WoRMS match was placed in the "ScientificnameID" field of the occurrence file. Data quality checks were performed using the R obistools and worrms libraries. All sampling locations were spatially validated.

A research survey on American lobster (Homarus americanus) has been conducted annually in the Magdalen Islands since 1995 to assess the abundance and structure of lobster populations in this area. Starting in 2007, the main objective was modified to include the diversity and abundance of benthic species associated with lobster habitat. Only benthic species data associated with lobster habitat are presented in this dataset. Surveys were generally conducted during the first two weeks of September from 2007 to 2020 on the entire south side of the Magdalen Islands, from Grosse-Île to Havre-Aubert. The sampling plan consists of 70 trawl tows on 50 fixed stations, between 4 and 35 meters in depth. Some stations had double tows. Specimens were collected using a Nephrops-type door trawl with a total width of 3.04 meters consisting of four Vexar™ lined baskets of 19 millimeter mesh size in order to harvest small individuals. Start and end positions were recorded to calculate the distance traveled at each tow using the geosphere library in R. The year 2011 is not included in the dataset, as biodiversity data were not recorded. Since 2017, the average tow distance has been reduced from 1000 meters to 500 meters. The opening of the trawl is also noted every minute throughout the duration of the tow so that the area sampled can be calculated. The area covered in each tow was the product of the trawl opening and the distance traveled. The two files provided (DarwinCore format) are complementary and are linked by the "eventID" key. The "Event_data" file includes generic activity information, including date and location. The "Occurrence" file includes the taxonomy of the observed species, identified to the species or lowest possible taxonomic level. For abundance and biomass estimates, contact Benoît Bruneau (Benoit.Bruneau@dfo-mpo.gc.ca). For quality controls, all taxonomic names were checked against the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) to match recognized standards. The WoRMS match was placed in the "ScientificnameID" field of the occurrence file. Special cases were noted in the "identificationRemarks" field and selected specimens were confirmed with field photos mentioned in "associatedMedia". Data quality checks were performed using the R obistools and WORMS libraries. All sampling locations were spatially validated.