The hydrographic 1991 to 2020 climatology for the Maritimes region Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program core transects, Cabot Strait, Louisbourg, Halifax, Browns Bank, and Northeast Channel, are calculated to support annual reporting on seasonal variability. Details on data coverage for these transects and ancillary transects occupied since the inception of the program are provided. Comparisons with the previous climatology period, years 1981 to 2010, are summarized when possible.Cite this data as: Layton, C. Data of:Maritimes Region Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program 1991 to 2020 Hydrographic Transect Climatology.Published: August 2025. Ocean Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S.https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/5f9c5d65-3ce1-4bdd-8b43-34086620d1e3

In 1997, a magnitude 4.6 earthquake occurred 3 to 4 km beneath the Strait of Georgia, near Vancouver. This scenario visualizes the effects of that event if it occurred today with a magnitude of 4.9. A magnitude 7.0 Georgia Strait scenario is also provided, and represents a less likely but more consequential case for comparison.

In 1997, a magnitude 4.6 earthquake occurred 3 to 4 km beneath the Strait of Georgia, near Vancouver. This scenario visualizes the effects of that event if it occurred today with a magnitude of 5.0. A magnitude 7.0 Georgia Strait scenario is also provided, and represents a less likely but more consequential case for comparison.

Zooplankton data collected during surveys conducted in the central and northern Strait of Georgia, 1996-2018.

The Strait of Belle Isle connects the Labrador Shelf and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Few observations of currents in the Strait of Belle Isle exist despite its important contribution to the heat, salt, and mass budgets of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This is because the deployment of instruments is complicated by the Strait’s remote location, its strong currents, and the presence of thick winter sea ice and icebergs. The present data set aims to provide a long-term time series of currents in the Strait of Belle Isle.Data were collected using a moored Teledyne RDI Workhorse 300 KHz acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP). The ADCP was mounted on a subsurface buoy anchored 5 m from the sea floor, in water approximately 70 m deep near the north shore of the Strait (56° 37.2 W, 51° 34.7 N). This instrument provides three-dimensional current profiles every 30 minutes at a vertical resolution of 4 m. Backscatter intensity is also collected at the same resolution. Raw data were processed using the Magtogoek software (https://github.com/iml-gddaiss/magtogoek), developed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Quality flags have been assigned to the data based on beam sidelobe contamination and required thresholds for extreme velocities, beam correlation and percentage of good four-beam transformations. The ancillary data used to apply this quality control are included in the data set.Reference :Shaw, J.-L., & Galbraith, P. S. (2023). Climatology of transport in the Strait of Belle Isle. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 128, e2022JC019084. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JC019084

Marine Ecosection classification for coastal and offshore British Columbia. The Marine Ecosections are: Johnstone Strait; Continental Slope; Dixon Entrance; Hecate Strait; Queen Charlotte Strait; Juan de Fuca Strait; North Coast Fjords; Queen Charlotte Sound; Strait of Georgia; Subarctic Pacific; Transitional Pacific; and Vancouver Island Shelf. The British Columbia Marine Ecological Classification (BCMEC) is a hierarchical classification that delineates Provincial marine areas into Ecozones, Ecoprovinces, Ecoregions and Ecosections. The classification was developed from previous Federal and Provincial marine ecological classifications which were based on 1:2,000,000 scale information. The BCMEC has been developed for marine and coastal planning, resource management and a Provincial marine protected areas strategy. A new, smaller level of classification termed ecounits developed using 1:250,000 scale depth, current, exposure, subsurface relief and substrate was created to verify the larger ecosections, and to delineate their boundaries. CRIMS is a legacy dataset of BC coastal resource data that was acquired in a systematic and synoptic manner from 1979 and was intermittently updated throughout the years. Resource information was collected in nine study areas using a peer-reviewed provincial Resource Information Standards Committee consisting of DFO Fishery Officers, First Nations, and other subject matter experts. There are currently no plans to update this legacy data.

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. Data were collected from sites in the inland sea waters of British Columbia and Washington State, USA, that comprise the Strait of Georgia, Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound since 2001 and are ongoing.

In 1997, a magnitude 4.6 earthquake occurred 3 to 4 km beneath the Strait of Georgia. This scenario visualizes the effects of that event if it had a magnitude of 7.0, and represents a strong ground shaking event that could strike Metro Vancouver.

Monitoring of Unit 2 redfish by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) ceased in 2002. Since then, the Atlantic Groundfish Council (AGC, formerly the Groundfish Enterprise Allocation Council [GEAC]) has funded surveys approximately every two years in the area, in collaboration with DFO. Over the years, various vessels and gear types have been used. In 2024, a comparative survey was conducted using the CCGS John Cabot and a fishing industry vessel (the Léry Charles) to develop conversion factors that allow data from the 2020, 2022, and 2024 Unit 2 redfish surveys to be standardized to CCGS John Cabot equivalents. The survey covered the waters off southwestern Newfoundland and eastern Cape Breton, corresponding to redfish management Unit 2, which includes NAFO subdivisions 3Pn, 3Ps, 4Vn, 4Vs, and 4W. Here, data collected aboard the CCGS John Cabot are presented. Objectives• Assess the abundance and condition of groundfish and invertebrates• Assess environmental conditions• Inventory the biodiversity of benthic and demersal megafauna• Monitor the pelagic ecosystem• Collect samples for various research projectsData The CCGS John Cabot employed a four-sided modified Campelen 1800 shrimp trawl, fitted with a Rockhopper ("bicycle") footgear. The trawl extension and codend were lined with 12.7 mm knotless nylon mesh. Standard trawl tows were 15 minutes in duration, timed from bottom contact, with a target towing speed of 3 knots.For each fishing tow, the catch is sorted and weighed by taxa; individuals are then counted and biological data are collected on a subsample. For fish, crab and squid, size and weight are measured by individual and, for some species, sex, gonad maturity, and the weight of certain organs (stomach, liver, gonads) are also evaluated. The soft rays of the anal fin are counted for redfish, and the otoliths are sampled for several species such as Atlantic cod, Atlantic halibut, and Greenland halibut. Roughly 2-kg of shrimp are sorted and weighed by species. The other invertebrates are counted (no individual measurements) and photographed.The biological data are divided into 4 files: a “Stations” file containing set information, a “Catches” file containing catches per set for fish taxa, a “Carbio” file containing biological and morphometric measurements per individual and a “Shrimps” file containing information on shrimp catches. The columns source_info, no_survey, nbpc and set_number serve as a common key linking the four datasets.It is important to note that this is raw data. Only sets considered successful are retained. In each set, all species are kept, with a few exceptions. Data is available from 1997-2022 but please contact the data management team (gddaiss-dmsaisb@dfo-mpo.gc.ca) for access and further details. For any other information please also contact the data management team.

This resource documents a dataset of epifauna occurrences collected in 2021 during The Knowledge and Ecosystem-Based Approach in Baffin Bay (KEBABB) program developed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) in collaboration with university partners. The overall objective of KEBABB is to characterize the variability and trends in physical, chemical, and biological oceanographic conditions and food webs supporting fisheries in the connected ecosystems of western Baffin Bay and Lancaster Sound. In 2021, DFO expanded the KEBABB program to Barrow Strait (KEBABS-Knowledge and Ecosystem-Based Approach in Barrow Strait), a key productive area of the Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area. The study took place in the Eastern Canadian Arctic (mainly in Baffin Bay, Davis Strait and Barrow Strait). Sampling is done along transects at fixed stations in the study area. Catches are collected with a 1.5 m Agassiz trawl (5 mm mesh net) for 3 minutes bottom-contact time at a target speed of 1.5 knots and with a 3 m benthic beam trawl (6.4 mm mesh net) for 15 minutes bottom-contact time at a target speed of 3 knots. A total of 16 stations were sampled for epifauna in 2021 between 85-850 m depth. Epibenthic invertebrates are identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level and photographed. All unknown specimens are frozen. In the lab, the identifications are validated or refined with the photos and the frozen specimens.The data are presented in Darwin Core and are separated in two files:The “Activité_épifaune_KEBABB_epifauna_event_en” file which contains information about missions, stations and deployments, which are presented under a hierarchical activity structure.The “Occurrence_épifaune_KEBABB_epifauna_en” file that contains the taxonomic occurrences.Further details on sampling can be found in the following report: Pućko, M., Charette, J., Tremblay P., Brulotte S., St-Denis B., Ciastek S., Hedges, K., Kuzyk, Z., Roy V., and Michel, C. 2022. An ecosystem-based approach in the eastern Arctic: KEBABB/S (Knowledge and Ecosystem-Based Approach in Baffin Bay/Barrow Strait) 2021 expedition report. Can. Manuscr. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 3250: viii + 58 p. https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2022/mpo-dfo/Fs97-4-3250-eng.pdfUSE LIMITATION:To ensure scientific integrity and appropriate use of the data, we would encourage you to contact the data custodian.