The Great Lakes Fish Biodiversity Science Database is a compilation of fish community and habitat data from DFO Science surveys, primarily related to freshwater fishes of conservation concern in the Great Lakes basin. Data include: sampling site location, date, fish species and counts, and associated habitat information. Project-specific details including purpose/objectives and study methodology are often reported in the DFO Canadian data report of fisheries and aquatic sciences series.

Description:Spatial information on ecologically important species is needed to support marine spatial planning initiatives in British Columbia’s (BC) marine environment. For data deficient taxa, such as shark species, species distribution models that integrate presence-absence data from different sources can be used to predict their coastwide distributions. Here we provide spatial estimates of the distribution of Blue Shark (Prionace glauca), Salmon Shark (Lamna ditropis), Pacific Sleeper Shark (Somniosus pacificus) and Bluntnose Sixgill Shark (Hexanchus griseus). These estimates were generated using spatial generalized linear mixed effects models and are based on data from two scientific surveys and the commercial hook and line, midwater trawl and bottom trawl fisheries. For each species, we provide predicted probability of occurrence and prediction uncertainty at a 3 km resolution for the British Columbia coast, and parameter estimates for model covariates (depth, slope, year, data source). Results show variable predicted distributions across species, with Blue Shark and Pacific Sleeper Shark showing higher probability of presence along the continental slope, while Salmon Shark show low probability of occurrence coastwide and Bluntnose Sixgill Shark show the highest probability of occurrence in the Strait of Georgia. The results from this study can support ongoing marine spatial planning initiatives in the BC and support the conservation and management of these important species.Methods:Data Sources The species distribution models (SDMs) are based on data from two fishery independent scientific surveys and from the commercial hook and line fishery, which are all conducted within Canadian Pacific waters. The scientific surveys include the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) hard bottom longline surveys and the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) fishery-independent setline survey. The study area is bound by the outer convex hull of these three data sources. Other DFO research surveys, such as the groundfish synoptic bottom trawl surveys, midwater trawl surveys and sablefish trap surveys were investigated as potential data sources, but were found to have insufficient presence observations for the species of interest to warrant their inclusion in the analysis. For more information on the details of the source data please refer to Proudfoot et al. 2024.Modelling Approach and Comparison For each species, we fit a suite of generalized linear mixed effects models (GLMMs) using the sdmTMB package (Anderson et al. 2022). For each species, we fit four models, each with a different set of fixed effects/environmental predictors. Additionally, we compared the predictive power of four models for each species, with each model having a different combination of environmental predictors (i.e., slope, depth, slope + depth, none). A summary of the candidate models is provided in Table 2 of Proudfoot et al. 2024. For each species, we selected the model with the highest predictive accuracy (assessed using the predicted log likelihood based on the cross-validation) as the best fit.Spatial Species Distribution Predictions We made predictions of species occurrence using the selected model and a 3 km resolution spatial prediction grid. Our predictions were made for the entire BC coast, and species distribution predictions were made using models fit to the full dataset, as opposed to models fit using cross-validation. We made predictions with year set to 2014 (the approximate midpoint of the dataset) and type set to IPHC (the dataset with the most even spatial distribution of data points).Uncertainties:Because limited survey and commercial catch data exists for deep areas off the continental shelf, predictions in these areas are likely more uncertain than predictions on the shelf. To illustrate this, uncertainty (standard deviation derived from the 500 simulated values from the joint precision matrix of selected models) was mapped across the full study area for each species. Additionally, because these models are based on data that likely do not span the full spatiotemporal extent of the species’ habitat (i.e., mid depths, surface waters, and data across all seasons may not be captured), these results illustrate a snapshot of occurrence but do not account for more complex migration and movement patterns undertaken by these species.

Survey data depicting the presence of the endangered Rocky Mountain Ridged Mussel (Gonidea angulata) from 2008-2011. Surveys were conducted by different researchers at different locations.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has been conducting surface water trawl surveys since 1992 in the coastal waters of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Alaska and in the high seas of the Gulf of Alaska. These surveys initially focused on determining the migratory patterns (1992-2002) and on the growth and physiology (2003-2016) of juvenile Pacific Salmon. Since 2016, these surveys have been broadened to monitor the whole pelagic ecosystem, retaining a focus on juvenile Pacific Salmon. In this record, surveys were conducted in continental slope waters at depths greater than 400 m out to the Gulf of Alaska, between 1995 and 2011. Periodically, there are tows from surveys conducted in other regions that occurred on the continental slope and they are included here. This set of data also includes data collected during the International Year of Salmon survey in 2022.

Since 1992, scientific surveys have been conducted annually alternately, in the estuary and the North of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. These surveys allow DFO to monitor the population and ecosystem of the snow crab and thus understand the state of the stock and the renewal of the species.Beam trawl hauls following a systematic sampling take place every 2 years in the estuary and in the Lower North Shore. In the estuary (zone 17), a sampling of 94 stations is carried out. In the Lower North Shore (zone 13 and 14), 60 regular stations are usually sampled and 35 exploratory stations are distributed between Baie Johan Bettz and Kegaska (zone 15 and 16) but also on the south shore of zone 13 near Newfoundland. At each station, a fishing haul of 5 to 10 minutes is carried out. The harvested crabs are measured (cephalothorax width), sexed and counted. The state of the shell, sexual maturity and egg development stages are also assessed. The number of crabs caught, classified according to different size categories, allows estimating densities and thus monitoring the state and renewal of the snow crab population in the different fishing areas. This dataset on the snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) contains abundance and density data of crabs under different size classes as well as geographical and bathymetric variables by station. The dataset covers the period from 1992 to the present and is updated each year. A cleaning of aberrant data has been carried out.For certain time periods, associated species are identified and semi-quantitatively counted directly on the sorting table, and the results are presented in the following publications: - https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/8fbd81a4-ce4a-40e3-81f6-e2a5c44955de- https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/268bf29e-b9d6-4267-bc86-230f4edfb80b- https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/97dac757-2ef6-4144-b7d9-a0d8d51f8319

Forest Lorey's Height 2015Lorey's mean height. It is developed within the framework of Canada’s National Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (NTEMS). Average height of trees weighted by their basal area (m). Products relating the structure of Canada's forested ecosystems have been generated and made openly accessible. The shared products are based upon peer-reviewed science and relate aspects of forest structure including: (i) metrics calculated directly from the lidar point cloud with heights normalized to heights above the ground surface (e.g., canopy cover, height), and (ii) modelled inventory attributes, derived using an area-based approach generated by using co-located ground plot and ALS data (e.g., volume, biomass). Forest structure estimates were generated by combining information from lidar plots (Wulder et al. 2012) with Landsat pixel-based composites (White et al. 2014; Hermosilla et al. 2016) using a nearest neighbour imputation approach with a Random Forests-based distance metric. These products were generated for strategic-level forest monitoring information needs and are not intended to support operational-level forest management. All products have a spatial resolution of 30 m. For a detailed description of the data, methods applied, and accuracy assessment results see Matasci et al. (2018). When using this data, please cite as follows: Matasci, G., Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M.A., White, J.C., Coops, N.C., Hobart, G.W., Bolton, D.K., Tompalski, P., Bater, C.W., 2018b. Three decades of forest structural dynamics over Canada's forested ecosystems using Landsat time-series and lidar plots. Remote Sensing of Environment 216, 697-714. Matasci et al. 2018)Geographic extent: Canada's forested ecosystems (~ 650 Mha)Time period: 1985–2011

Snow survey administrative basin areas, which are components of the BC snow survey network. Basin codes are used as basis of snow survey station names, and for some reporting purposes.

This spatial layer displays lakes that have had full or partial surveys, and contains information regarding the dates of those surveys and an indication of the data collected on each survey date

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has been conducting surface water trawl surveys since 1992 in the coastal waters of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Alaska and in the high seas of the Gulf of Alaska. These surveys initially focused on determining the migratory patterns (1992-2002) and on the growth and physiology (2003-2016) of juvenile Pacific Salmon. Since 2016, these surveys have been broadened to monitor the whole pelagic ecosystem, retaining a focus on juvenile Pacific Salmon. Surveys have been conducted on the continental shelf of north and west Vancouver Island, included associated sounds and inlets since 1992 and are ongoing. These data are for tows conducted in the continental shelf area for depths shallower than 400 meters.

A research survey on American lobster (Homarus americanus) and rock crab (Cancer irroratus) has been carried out annually on the Magdalen Islands since 1995 to assess the abundance and structure of populations in this area. The survey is carried out during the first two weeks of September and covers the southern part of the Magdalen Islands, from "Baie de Plaisance" to "Grande-Entrée", extending slightly eastwards between "Havre-aux-Maisons" and "Grande-Entrée". The survey lasts 8 to 15 days, depending of the weather conditions, and covers a maximum of 48 stations. Approximately half of the stations are surveyed in duplicate (two tows per station). The tows always cover 500 meters, with a slightly variable trawl opening (as explained above), averaging around 10 meters.The gear used is a Nephrops trawl, a benthic trawl originally developed for langoustine fishing in Brittany, but slightly modified to target lobster. The trawl is deployed from the CCGS Leim and the harvested organisms are hauled aboard and sorted. Cephalothorax length, sex and shell stage are recorded for all lobsters. This is supplemented by information on reproductive conditions for certain size classes, and dissections of 25 males and 25 females per mission. Rock crabs are also included in the survey and are counted with additional measurements of shell width, sex and shell condition that are recorded on predetermined stations. For other stations individuals data are collected depending on the time available between trawl hauls.The publication contains 4 files; the "Information_stations" file which contains the data of the stations, the "Data_homard_lobster_survey" file which contains the measurements of each lobster, the "Nombre_crabe_crab_number" file which contains the count of rock crabs, the "Mesure_crabe_crab_measurement" file contains the characteristics measured for each crab. Each of the files can be linked by the "date", "st", "tr" columns. The “bat” column notes the boat code, because the gear is not deployed in the same way on each boat.*This record consist of raw data and quality has not been verifiedAssociated species are identified and semi-quantitatively counted directly on the sorting table, and the results are presented in the following publication: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/99cb7034-f3d5-4da4-a5bc-e81315cfb8eb