Pacific Herring roe catch data for British Columbia. There are five major stock assessment regions: Haida Gwaii, Prince Rupert District, Central Coast, Strait of Georgia, and West Coast of Vancouver Island; and two minor stock assessment regions: Area 2W and Area 27. Catch that occurred outside of the major and minor stock assessment regions is recorded as ‘other’. Herring roe catch data is maintained in the Herring stock assessment database. The sum of catch is in metric tonnes for a specified time frame, geographical location, and gear type. Due to privacy, catch where less than three parties fished in a given area and time frame cannot be released. In these cases, ‘WP’ will appear in this field.

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.Determine the stock status of southern Gulf of St. Lawrence Atlantic Cod. DESCRIPTION:The yearly spawning stock biomass estimates of southern Gulf of St. Lawrence Atlantic Cod were obtained using a Statistical Catch-at-Age model as part of the stock assessment to year 2023.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 spawning stock biomass. USE LIMITATION:To ensure scientific integrity and appropriate use of the data, we would encourage you to contact the data custodian.

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. The dataset supports stock assessment by providing estimates of total returns of large and small Atlantic salmon to each Salmon Fishing Area (SFA) from 15 to 18, as well as to Gulf region rivers overall.DESCRIPTION:This dataset contains annual estimates of total returns of large and small Atlantic salmon to Salmon Fishing Areas (SFAs) 15 to 18 and to Gulf region rivers, as part of the stock assessment process up to the year 2022. USE LIMITATION:To ensure scientific integrity and appropriate use of the data, we would encourage you to contact the data custodian.

Herring biological (fish and sample) data as part of Herring Stock Assessment database

A Stock Range is an administrative area established to coincide with local livestock association areas. Generally, stock ranges are made up of one or more range units. Stock ranges are found in select areas of the province where applicable; not all areas of the province contain stock ranges

Salmon have a complex hierarchical population structure extending from groups of salmon at individual spawning sites all the way up to taxonomic species. These independently functioning aggregates are defined as Conservation Units (CUs) in the Wild Salmon Policy. A stock management unit (SMU) is a group of one or more CUs that are managed together with the objective of achieving a joint status.There are 69 SMUs containing 468 CUs. In 2022, eight SMUs units did not have enough information to provide an assessment. Sixty-one units were assigned a forecast. There are ongoing requests to represent salmon information for these areas. Salmon are assessed and managed at different levels for different needs. The layers in this dataset include administrative areas, stock management units, and conservation units.The data included is a shapefile containing a single feature class layer represented in point and polygon form, as well as a csv table (attributes) to present Stock Management Unit information in a simple, visual way.

Herring Section shapefile - used for spatial analysis/presentation of data from Herring Stock Assessment Database.

Herring Permanent Spawn Transects (geodatabase) - used for herring spawn survey program and spatial analysis/presentation of spawn data from Herring Stock Assessment Database (including creation of spawn polygons).

Pacific Herring spawn index data for British Columbia from 1951 to present. Note that the spawn index is a relative index of spawning biomass. In addition, “NA" indicates that data are unavailable because they are either incomplete or withheld; contact the custodian for more information. For the "Region" column specifically, "NA" indicates that the location is outside stock assessment region boundaries. There are a few caveats to consider when interpreting Pacific Herring spawn index data, which are discussed in the technical report (see supporting documents).

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