Changes in phytoplankton abundance and community composition have the potential to impact the entire food web and alter ecosystem productivity and biogeochemical cycles. Recognizing its importance, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) established a phytoplankton monitoring program on the Pacific coast of Canada based on phytoplankton pigment measurements. Phytoplankton pigments (chlorophylls and carotenoids) and ancillary data are collected annually on DFO cruises at multiple locations in waters of the northeast subarctic Pacific and the west coast of Canada. Water samples are collected at discrete depths in the upper layer and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Phytoplankton pigments, determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) have been measured on DFO La Perouse cruises since 2011. Surface samples are taken along a series of transects off the west coast of Vancouver Island twice a year usually in May/June and early September.

Phytoplankton pigments, determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) are measured seasonally along a 20-station transect in the Juan de Fuca / Strait of Georgia Basin. Sampling was initiated in 2004, discontinued in 2012 and restarted in 2015. In addition, occasional sampling is carried out at several locations and times in inland waters. For data inquiries please contact: Angelica Pena for data from 2004 to 2015 and Nina Nemcek for data from 2015 to present.

Phytoplankton pigments, determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) are measured on DFO cruises three times a year in February, June, and August/September along Line P in the northeast subarctic Pacific. Sampling for phytoplankton pigments started in 2006 at the five main Line P stations and was expanded to sample at all twenty seven stations along the transect in June 2010.

Phytoplankton counts (cell/L)) at the 3 fixed stations and some of the 46 stations grouped into Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program (AZMP) transects under Quebec region responsibility. Phytoplankton data counts at AZMP stations in June 2014, 2018 and 2019 are displayed as 5 layers: Diatoms, Dinoflagellates, Flagellates, Protozoans and Total Phytoplankton. Another layer displays the fixed stations Rimouski, Anticosti Gyre and Gaspe Current and the attached files contain the phytoplankton data acquired at those stations: a .png file for each one, showing time series of counts for the 5 groups, and a .csv file containing the data themselves (columns : Latitude,Longitude, Date(UTC), Depth_min/Profondeur_min(m), Depth_max/Profondeur_max(m), Diatoms/Diatomées(cells/L), Dinoflagellates/Dinoflagellés(cells/L), Flagellates/Flagellés(cells/L), Protozoans/Protozoaires(cells/L), Phytoplankton/Phytoplancton(cells/L)). Purpose The Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program (AZMP) was implemented in 1998 with the aim of increasing the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) capacity to detect, track and predict changes in the state and productivity of the marine environment. The AZMP collects data from a network of stations composed of high-frequency monitoring sites and cross-shelf sections in each following DFO region: Québec, Gulf, Maritimes and Newfoundland. The sampling design provides basic information on the natural variability in physical, chemical, and biological properties of the Northwest Atlantic continental shelf. Cross-shelf sections sampling provides detailed geographic information but is limited in a seasonal coverage while critically placed high-frequency monitoring sites complement the geography-based sampling by providing more detailed information on temporal changes in ecosystem properties. In Quebec region, two surveys (46 stations grouped into transects) are conducted every year, one in June and the other in autumn in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Historically, 3 fixed stations were sampled more frequently. One of these is the Rimouski station that still takes part of the program and is sampled about weekly throughout the summer and occasionally in the winter period. Annual reports (physical, biological and a Zonal Scientific Advice) are available from the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS), (http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas-sccs/index-eng.htm). Devine, L., Scarratt, M., Plourde, S., Galbraith, P.S., Michaud, S., and Lehoux, C. 2017. Chemical and Biological Oceanographic Conditions in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence during 2015. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2017/034. v + 48 pp. Supplemental Information Phytoplankton samples are collected using Niskin bottles, preserved with acid Lugol solution and analysed according to AZMP sampling protocol: Mitchell, M. R., Harrison, G., Pauley, K., Gagné, A., Maillet, G., and Strain, P. 2002. Atlantic Zonal Monitoring Program sampling protocol. Can. Tech. Rep. Hydrogr. Ocean Sci. 223: iv + 23 pp.

Phytoplankton species abundance (cell/L) and oceanographic conditions (temperature, salinity, chlorophylle-a (mg/m³) for some years and nutrient content (mmol/m³)) at stations of the Harmful Algae Monitoring Programme (HAMP) from1994 to 2016. The layer presents the station positions of the HAMP. Two files are attached to each station: one containing the cell counts and the second the oceanographic conditions. Purpose The summer growth of many toxic and harmful microalgae species poses a serious threat for the public health and commercial or recreational exploitation of some marine species. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) initiated the Harmful Algae Monitoring Programme (HAMP) in 1989 in order to complete the monitoring program for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). Under the responsibility of Maurice-Lamontagne Institute scientists, the HAMP is to monitor, by means of a coastal station network, the natural occurrence of toxic and harmful algae in the St. Lawrence in order to determine their spatio-temporal distribution and the environmental conditions leading to their bloom. The network is made up of 11 coastal stations which are sampled every week from April to November and which are established along Quebec eastern shores. It extends from Tadoussac to Tête-à-la-Baleine on the St. Lawrence north shore and from Sainte-Flavie to Carleton on the south shore along the Gaspé peninsula. Another station is located in Havre-Aux-Maisons, Magdalen Islands. The HAMP was discontinued in 2010 but opportunistic samplings are still done at some stations. Additional information The sampling and analysis protocol is described in details in the following publication apart from the fact that the number of identified and counted species significantly has been increasing with time. Phytoplankton samples are preserved in a lugol solution. Blasco D., M. Levasseur, R. Gélinas, R. Larocque, A.D. Cembella, B. Huppertz et E. Bonneau.1998. Monitorage du phytoplancton toxique et des toxines de type IPM dans les mollusques du Saint-Laurent: 1989 à 1994. Rapp. stat. can. hydrogr. sci. océan. 15 1 : x i-117 p.