Historical finds of Operophtera brumata

PURPOSE:From August 1st to September 11th, 2014, Fisheries and Oceans Canada conducted a baseline survey of marine fishes and their habitats in the southern Canadian Beaufort Sea and Amundsen Gulf as part of the Beaufort Regional Environmental Assessment (BREA) called the Beaufort Sea Marine Fishes Project (BSMFP). Sampling was conducted from the F/V Frosti at 54 stations along 14 transects. Standardized sampling was conducted at pre-determined depth stations (20-1500 m) using benthic trawling nets. The BSMFP is the first research project to use large research trawls to assess the biodiversity and abundance of offshore marine fishes in this area. In total, 42 species of fish were caught. This report contains information on fishing net deployments, catch per unit effort (CPUE), and basic biological data for all fishes caught.DESCRIPTION:Basic biological data for all fish caught during the 2014 BSMFP expedition. Includes identification, weight, length (total, fork, and, standard), liver weight, gonad weight, sex and maturity level. PARAMETERS COLLECTED:familyspeciesweighttotal lengthfork lengthstandard lengthliver weightgonad weightsexmaturitySAMPLING METHODS:Various trawl types.

Historical finds of Coleophora laricella

Historical finds of Coleophora serratella

Historical finds of Profenusa thomsoni

The United States population of California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) range from southeast Alaska to the Pacific coast of central Mexico. While this population does not breed in Canada, some sub-adult and adult males migrate northwards to British Columbia (BC) during the non-breeding season with an arrival in August–October and a departure in April–May. The population in coastal BC was assessed in 1985 and again in 2023 from dedicated over-winter aerial surveys. The most recent assessment used counts from 2020–2021surveys that were restricted to southern BC as few animals have been documented further north. Additional observations of California Sea Lions were collected while surveying sites for Steller Sea Lions. These opportunistic counts increased from approximately 1,000 animals in the mid-2000s to several thousand individuals in more recent years. Historically occupied sea lion rookeries and haul-out sites were surveyed with nearby areas monitored for potential shifts in distribution. This dataset contains counts that have been collected from sightings of individuals from 1971 through 2021and replaces a previous dataset limited to the 2016/2017 survey season.

Historical finds of Pristiphora erichsonii

Historical finds of Adelges abietis

Species characterization by environmental DNA (eDNA) is a method that allows the use of DNA released into the environment by organisms from various sources (secretions, faeces, gametes, tissues, etc.). It is a complementary tool to standard sampling methods for the identification of biodiversity. This project provides a list of fish and marine mammal species whose DNA has been detected in water samples collected between 2019 and 2021 using the mitochondrial marker MiFish (12S).The surveys were carried out in the summer of 2019 (July 14-18) and (July 30 - August 5), in the fall of 2020 (October 27-28) and in the summer-fall of 2021 (May 31 - June 3 ) and (August 24-25) between Forestville and Godbout (Haute-Côte-Nord). Sampling was carried out between 1-50 meters depth in 91 stations, with 1 to 3 replicates per station. Two liters of water were filtered through a 1.2 µm fiberglass filter. DNA extractions were performed with the DNeasy Blood and Tissues or PowerWater extraction kit (Qiagen). Negative field, extraction and PCR controls were added at the different stages of the protocol. The libraries were prepared either by Génome Québec (2019, 2020) or by the Genomics Laboratory of the Maurice-Lamontagne Institute (2021), then sequenced on a NovaSeq 4000 PE250 system by Génome Québec. The bioinformatics analysis of the sequences obtained was carried out using an analysis pipeline developed in the genomics laboratory. A first step made it possible to obtain a table of molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTU) using the cutadapt software for the removal of the adapters and the R package DADA2 for the filtration, the fusion, removal of chimeras and compilation of data. The MOTUs table was then corrected using the R package metabaR to eliminate the tag-jumping and take contaminants into consideration. Samples showing a strong presence of contaminating MOTUs were removed from the dataset. The MOTUs were also filtered to remove all remaining adapter sequences and also retain only those of the expected size (around 170 bp). Finally, taxonomic assignments were made on the MOTUs using the BLAST+ program and the NCBI-nt database. Taxonomic levels (species, genus or family) were assigned using a best match method (Top hit), with a threshold of 95%. Only assignments at the level of fish and marine mammals were considered, and the taxa detected were compared to a list of regional species, and corrected if necessary. The species detections of the different replicas have been combined.The file provided includes generic activity information, including site, station name, date, marker type, assignment types used for taxa identification, and a list of taxa or species. The list of taxa has been verified by a biodiversity expert from the Maurice-Lamontagne Institute.This project was funded by Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Coastal Environmental Baseline Data Program under the Oceans Protection Plan. This initiative aims to acquire baseline environmental data that contributes to the characterization of significant coastal areas and supports evidence-based assessments and management decisions to preserve marine ecosystems.Data were also published on SLGO platform : https://doi.org/10.26071/ogsl-2239bca5-c24a

The Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) is the largest species of sea lion with males weighing as much as 1,100 kg and females as much as 350 kg. In Canada, the Steller can be spotted along the rocky coast of British Columbia (BC). These highly mobile marine mammals typically travel alone or in small groups, but they congregate in large numbers at traditional rookeries and haul-outs during the mating and pupping season. Females generally live longer (up to 30 years) than males (usually up to 20 years). The population was severely depleted in Canada but following its protection in 1970, the size of the adult population has more than doubled.Trends in the abundance of Steller sea lions in BC have been assessed based on a series of standardized, province-wide aerial surveys conducted during the breeding season (27-June to 06-July) between 1971 and 2021. Additional ad-hoc surveys during the fall, winter, and spring periods were completed to assess sea lion distribution outside of the breeding season. Surveys targeted historically occupied rookeries and haul-out sites with nearby areas also monitored for potential shifts in distribution.Both datasets contain counts that have been collected from sightings of individuals from 1971 through 2021. The updated standard breeding season survey counts data file consolidates and extends two previous datasets – one covering 1971 through 2013 and the other covering the summer portion of the 2016/2017 surveys. The non-breeding season count data was previously limited to the fall-winter portion of the 2016/2017 surveys and the updated data covers the entire study period to date.