Towfish (sidescan and video) and echo sounder surveys were utilized to examine bottom type and macrophyte cover within the area of two coastal marine finfish aquaculture sites, one in New Brunswick (Welch Cove) and one in Nova Scotia (Jordan Bay). Both towfish and echo sounder data could be used independently of one another. However, the towfish data were very useful for ground truthing echo sounder based classifications. All survey data were placed into a GIS which could be used to answer management questions such as the placement of cages at sites, benthic impacts and baseline conditions to determine long term changes.Cite this data as: Vandermeulen H. Data of: Exploratory Video-Sidescan and Echosounder Survey of Welch Cove. Published: June 2021. Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/0083e317-8bb5-492a-8348-c021e183f307

Towfish (sidescan and video) and echo sounder surveys were utilized to examine bottom type and macrophyte cover within the area of two coastal marine finfish aquaculture sites, one in New Brunswick (Welch Cove) and one in Nova Scotia (Jordan Bay). Both towfish and echo sounder data could be used independently of one another. However, the towfish data were very useful for ground truthing echo sounder based classifications. All survey data were placed into a GIS which could be used to answer management questions such as the placement of cages at sites, benthic impacts and baseline conditions to determine long term changes.Cite this data as: Vandermeulen H. Data of: Exploratory Video-Sidescan and Echosounder Survey of Jordan Bay. Published: March 2019. Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/752d277f-8b3e-40c7-b99d-cfa67e69d975

Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) are found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. They are found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as those of the Baltic and North Seas. In Canada, they may be found off the coastal waters of British Columbia, Nunavut, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.Population trends and abundance of harbour seals in British Columbia are assessed based on aerial surveys conducted during 1966-2019. Based on counts conducted in Index Areas distributed throughout the province, the trend observed in the Strait of Georgia appears to be generally indicative of harbour seal populations throughout British Columbia. Total abundance of harbour seals on the B.C. coast in 2008 was estimated to be on the order of about 105,000 (95% confidence interval of 90,900 to 118,900) seals. Total abundance was re-estimated in 2022 (estimate and CI pending completion of CSAS process). Historic reconstructions indicate the population was depleted by a period of commercial harvesting during 1879-1914, and subsequently maintained below natural levels by predator control programs until the early 1960s. Already depleted, the population could not sustain a second period of intense commercial harvesting during 1962-1968 and was further depleted, but now appears to have fully recovered.

This project was completed by the Productive Capacity group (Coastal and Freshwater Ecology Section) in the Newfoundland and Labrador Science Branch of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). American lobster (Homarus americanus) is a commercially important decapod crustacean species along the east coast of North America, ranging from the Labrador coast south to Cape Hatteras. Juvenile lobster < 40 mm CL (carapace length) recruitment has been studied extensively in the southern portions of their range. However, investigations of settlement habitat association and recruitment of juvenile lobster in the northern extremes along the Newfoundland coast have been largely unsuccessful. We investigated juvenile lobster density, habitat, and depth associations in three areas of Newfoundland, using scuba – Port Saunders area, 8 dives conducted 28 September - 2 October 2017, and Burin Peninsula 10 dives (7 Placentia Bay, 3 Fortune Bay) conducted 30 September - 4 October 2018 over a total seabed area of 9,138 m2, within 200 meters of shore. Port Saunders and Fortune Bay had relatively higher lobster density (0.09 and 0.40 m-2, respectively); >65% were juveniles, in contrast to Placentia Bay where lobster densities of all size groups were low (mean 0.01 m-2) and no juvenile lobsters were observed at all. Where observed all juvenile lobster were significantly associated with shallow (<6 m) habitat and showed no overlap with distribution of adults (>82.5 mm CL) which we observed at depths 6 to 17 m. Our sites were dominated by varying mixes of cobble and pebble (77%); rock/bedrock (12%) and mud/sand/small pebble (11%) substrates interspersed with overlying kelp (32%) and eelgrass (11%) vegetation. We observed no significant associations with substrate or vegetation. This record contains the geographic locations of the 7 Placentia Bay sites surveyed, and information on the timing and type of data collected at each site, which was one component supported by Coastal Environmental Baseline Program of a larger collaborative project.

California and Steller sealion haulout sites. Coastal Resource Information Management System (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.

Distribution of clam beds in coastal Beds in British Columbia showing relative abundance (RA) and aboriginal, biological, commercial and recreational relative importance (RI) and overall RI. RI is based on project region and not on the province as a whole. and productivity. Other attributes include season dates, productivity and species. 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.

This dataset provides geospatial polygon boundaries for marine bivalve shellfish harvest area classification in Prince Edward Island, Canada. These data represent the five classification categories of marine bivalve shellfish harvest areas (Approved; Conditionally Approved; Restricted; Conditionally Restricted; and Prohibited) under the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP). Data are collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) for the purpose of making applicable classification recommendations on the basis of sanitary and water quality survey results. ECCC recommendations are reviewed and adopted by Regional Interdepartmental Shellfish Committees prior to regulatory implementation by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). These geographic data are for illustrative purposes only; they show shellfish harvest area classifications when in Open Status. The classification may be superseded at any time by regulatory orders issued by DFO, which place areas in Closed Status, due to conditions such as sewage overflows or elevated biotoxin levels. For further information about the current status and boundary coordinates for areas under Prohibition Order, please contact your local DFO office.This dataset is 'Deprecated'. Please use updated source here.https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/7aef69b5-3aaf-4d50-bb86-083031e6dc47

California and Steller sealion haulout areas. Coastal Resource Information Management System (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.

“4VSW” missions focus on the eastern half of the Scotian Shelf, and occur primarily in March, but sets in both February, and April are also present in the data. These missions use a unique stratification scheme intended to optimize the abundance estimates of cod. Collected data includes total catch in numbers and weights by species. Length frequency data is available for most species, as are the age, sex, maturity and weight information for a subset of the individual animals. Other data such as ageing material, genetic material, and stomach contents are often also collected, but are stored elsewhere.Cite this data as: Clark, D., Emberley, J. Data of Maritimes 4VSW Research Vessel Survey. Published January 2021. Population Ecology Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/a851ce30-e216-4d7d-a29c-05631eef140e

Funded under DFO's Marine Conservation Targets Program in partnership with the Huntsman Marine Science Centre (HMSC), this diver-based imagery and sample collection benthic survey documents the occurrence of sponges at 42 dive sites in the Eastern Shore Islands (ESI) Area of Interest (AOI, ~2089 km2) off the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada from dive surveys conducted in summer 2021 and 2022. Water quality, species occurrences and counts, habitat, slope, and substrate characteristics were catalogued through diver log sheets, camera imagery, specimen vouchers, and high-resolution bathymetric data. A total of 54 dives to depths from 11 to 33 m (below sea level), collecting up to 147 still images, one-hour of video, and 17 specimen samples per site, resulted in 220 observations for 27 different sponge taxa. This included three new records for Canada (Hymedesmia stellifera, Plocamionida arndti, Hymedesmia jecusculum) and a range extension for a species new to science (Crellomima mehqisinpekonuta) which was recently described from the Bay of Fundy. There were also four species which may seem to be new to science (Halichondria sp., Hymedesmia sp., Protosuberires sp., and Sphaerotylus sp.). Sponges were found to occupy a diversity of micro-habitats, often several different ones in proximity. A total of eight distinct habitat classes were defined, based on varying abundances and diversity of sponges and associated benthic species. These are likely widely distributed among the many complex submerged seabed features within this AOI. Collected specimens were preserved and are stored at the Atlantic Reference Centre (ARC) in St. Andrew's, New Brunswick.Cite this data as: Goodwin, C., Cooper, J.A., Lawton, P., Teed, L.L. 2025. Sponge occurrence and associated species and habitat descriptions derived from the 2021 and 2022 SCUBA diving surveys in the Eastern Shore Islands Area of Interest, Nova Scotia. Version 1.4. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Occurrence dataset. https://ipt.iobis.org/obiscanada/resource?r=eastern_shore_islands_sponge_survey_2021_2022&amp;v=1.4