The purpose of the survey is to document and record habitat types and associated algae and marine invertebrate species in a variety of habitat types. Transect locations are randomly selected throughout the study area, which rotates between the north and south coasts of British Columbia on a biannual basis. Transects are laid perpendicular to the shoreline. A team of two divers swim the transect with data sheets to collect habitat, algae and marine invertebrate data as detailed below in the methods section. Data is keypunched in an MS Access database that can be queried for species observations and environmental information.This dataset includes three tables pulled from the original database containing observations by species, observations by quadrat, and additional header information for each observation. All three tables can be linked by the field HKey. Three lookup tables are included as well, one for algae, one for invertebrates, and one for substrates.

The Brier Island/Digby Neck area has been identified as an Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area (EBSA) by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and is one of four marine areas within the Bay of Fundy recognised by Parks Canada as of national significance for marine conservation planning. The area is representative of important outer Bay of Fundy features with significant marine mammal, bird, and benthic diversity including potentially important aggregations of sensitive benthic species such as horse mussel and sponge. Much of the information used for this recognition is now over 40 years old and should be re-validated using standardised georeferenced survey methods. As a first phase, a diver-based survey of the sublittoral habitats and associated species was conducted in August and September of 2017 for the Brier Island area. This report summarises the major sublittoral habitat types, species assemblages, and oceanographic conditions observed at 20 locations including Northwest and Southwest Ledges, Gull Rock, Peter’s Island, and Grand Passage. A total of 962 records were made of 178 taxa, consisting of 43 algae and 135 animals. Comparison with historical records largely confirmed the continued presence of unique habitats and species assemblages for which this area was initially recognised as an EBSA. Differences in species richness observed for cryptic and less known taxonomic groups such as sponges and bryozoans were attributable to changes in survey methods and knowledge. Based on these findings, additional surveys of inshore and offshore Brier Island using more quantitative methods developed for other Bay of Fundy EBSAs would further support regional MPA network planning and provide relative scales of species diversity and habitat coverage for this area.

In 2012 and 2013, Fisheries and Oceans Canada surveyed the benthos in two areas closed to bottom contact fishing, the Narwhal Overwintering and Coldwater Coral Zone (now the Disko Fan Conservation Area, DFCA), and the Hatton Basin Voluntary Coral Protection Zone (now the Hatton Basin Conservation Area, HBCA). Samples were collected following protocols recommended by the Arctic Council’s Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Plan for the purposes of providing baseline data for future monitoring of benthic invertebrates in this sensitive region, and for facilitating pan-Arctic comparisons of benthic communities. Five biodiversity monitoring stations were established, four in the DFCA and one in the HBCA, each of which was fully sampled according to those protocols with Van Veen grabs or box corers, drop cameras and temperature recorders attached to the gear. This report summarises the grab/core-sampled benthic fauna collected during the 2012 survey of the Conservation Areas and complements another report documenting the epibenthos from the camera transects in the DFCA. Here we report on macrofauna in the 1-cm size fraction, and on foraminiferan meiofauna.The data provided is presented in the following report (see related link) :Jacobs, K., Bouchard Marmen, M., Rincón, B., MacDonald, B., Lirette, C., Gibb, O., Treble, M., and Kenchington, E. 2022. Biodiversity Monitoring Stations for Benthic Macrofauna and Meiofauna in the Disko Fan and Hatton Basin Conservation Areas. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 3487: vi + 86 p.Cite this data as: Bouchard Marmen, Marieve; Rincon, Beatriz ; MacDonald, Barry; Lirette, Camille; Gibb, Olivia; Treble, Margaret ; Jacobs, Kevin; Kenchington, Ellen (2022). Biodiversity Monitoring Stations for Benthic Macrofauna and Meiofauna in the Disko Fan and Hatton Basin Conservation Areas. Published January 2023. Ocean Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/b7bcff18-698b-4d40-a7bd-13d39925cbeb

Benthic invertebrates monitoring includes both lotic (rivers/streams) and lentic (wetlands) ecosystems. Aquatic biomonitoring provides a direct measure of change in biotic populations and communities in relation to benchmark or reference conditions and can help identify the ecological effects of cumulative stressors. Used together with the water chemical and physical monitoring components, this program uses an integrated approach to assess whether ecological affects are occurring in response to OS developments. Sampling can include the collection of invertebrates, algal biomass, water chemistry, and appropriate supporting habitat information and is conducted during periods of high abundance and diversity of macroinvertebrates. Sampling focuses on near-shore gravel and sand habitats on the Athabasca River, erosional habitats on major tributaries and in wadable areas in deltaic wetlands within the Expanded Geographical Area. As of October 2012, over 80 locations have been visited.

From August 5th to September 3rd, 2012, Fisheries and Oceans Canada conducted a baseline survey of marine fishes and their habitats on the Canadian Beaufort Shelf and slope. Sampling was conducted from the F/V Frosti at 28 stations along four transects. Standardized sampling was conducted at pre-determined depth stations (20-40, 75, 200, 350, 500, 750, and 1000 m) using a variety of sampling equipment including benthic fishing trawls, plankton nets, sediment cores, and CTD and water sample profiles. A specialized CTD probe (UCTD) was deployed at an additional 30 locations while the ship was underway. Presented here is the information on the sampling locations, and the sampling gear deployed at each station.

Marine classification schemes based on abiotic surrogates often inform regional marine conservation planning in lieu of detailed biological data. However, theses chemes may poorly represent ecologically relevant biological patterns required for effective design and management strategies. We used a community-level modeling approach to characterize and delineate representative mesoscale (tens to thousands of kilometers) assemblages of demersal fish and benthic invertebrates in the North-west Atlantic. Hierarchical clustering of species occurrence data from four regional annual multispecies trawl surveys revealed three to six groupings (predominant assemblage types) in each survey region, broadly associated with geomorphic and oceanographic features. Indicator analyses identified 3–34 emblematic taxa of each assemblage type. Random forest classifications accurately predicted assemblage dis-tributions from environmental covariates (AUC > 0.95) and identified thermal limits (annual minimum and maximum bottom temperatures) as important pre-dictors of distribution in each region. Using forecasted oceanographic conditions for the year 2075 and a regional classification model, we projected assemblage dis-tributions in the southernmost bioregion (Scotian Shelf-Bay of Fundy) under ahigh emissions climate scenario (RCP 8.5). Range expansions to the north eastare projected for assemblages associated with warmer and shallower waters of the Western Scotian Shelf over the 21st century as thermal habitat on the rela-tively cooler Eastern Scotian Shelf becomes more favorable. Community-level modeling provides a biotic-informed approach for identifying broadscale ecolog-ical structure required for the design and management of ecologically coherent, representative, well-connected networks of Marine Protected Areas. When com-bined with oceanographic forecasts, this modeling approach provides a spatial tool for assessing sensitivity and resilience to climate change, which can improve conservation planning, monitoring, and adaptive management.Cite this data as: O'Brien, J.M., Stanley, R.R.E., Jeffery, N.W., Heaslip, S.W., DiBacco, C., and Wang, Z. Demersal fish and benthic invertebrate assemblages in the Northwest Atlantic.Published: December 2024. Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Maritimes region, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth NS.https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/14d55ea5-b17d-478c-b9ee-6a7c04439d2b

From August 2nd to September 9th, 2013, Fisheries and Oceans Canada conducted a baseline survey of marine fishes and their habitats on the Canadian Beaufort Shelf and slope. Sampling was conducted from the F/V Frosti at 64 stations along ten transects. Standardized sampling was conducted on the transects at pre-determined depth stations (20-40, 75, 200, 350, 500, 750, and 1000 m) using a variety of sampling equipment including benthic fishing trawls, plankton nets, sediment cores, and CTD and water sample profiles. A specialized CTD probe (UCTD) was deployed at an additional 72 locations while the ship was underway.Presented here is the information on the sampling locations, and the sampling gear deployed at each station.

Effective fisheries and habitat management processes require knowledge of the distribution of areas of high ecological or biological significance. On the Scotian Shelf and Slope, a number of benthic ecologically or biologically significant areas consisting of habitat-forming species such as sponges and deep-water corals have been identified. However, knowledge of their spatial distribution is largely based on targeted surveys that are limited in their spatial extent. We used a species distribution modelling approach called random forest (RF) to predict the probability of occurrence and biomass of sponges, sea pens, and large and small gorgonian corals across the entire spatial extent of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) Maritimes Region. We also modelled the rare sponge Vazella pourtalesi, which forms the largest known aggregation of its kind on the Scotian Shelf. We utilized a number of data sources including DFO multispecies trawl catch data and in situ benthic imagery observations. Most models had excellent predictive capacity with cross-validated Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (AUC) values ranging from 0.760 to 0.977. Areas of suitable habitat were identified for each taxon and were contrasted against their known distribution and when applicable, the location of closure areas designated for their protection. Generalized additive models (GAMs) were developed to predict the biomass distribution of each taxonomic group and serve as a comparison to the RF models. The RF and GAM models provided comparable results, although GAMs provided superior predictions of biomass along the continental slope for some taxonomic groups. In the absence of data observations, the results of this study could be used to identify the potential distribution of sensitive benthic taxa for use in fisheries and habitat management applications. These results could also be used to refine significant concentrations of these taxa as identified through the kernel density analyses.Cite this data as: Beazley, Lindsay; Kenchington, Ellen; Murillo-Perez, Javier; Lirette, Camille; Guijarro-Sabaniel, Javier; McMillan, Andrew; Knudby, Anders (2019). Species Distribution Modelling of Corals and Sponges in the Maritimes Region for Use in the Identification of Significant Benthic Areas. Published July 2023. Ocean Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/356e92f3-5bf3-4810-98b1-3e10cd7742aa

This data set is a generalized characterization of the offshore and inshore environments of Canada’s Pacific Ocean. Compiled from various sources to depict the biogenic habitats, pelagic habitats, and general bottom types such as offshore and inshore by depth strata.

Significant Benthic Areas are defined in DFO's Ecological Risk Assessment Framework (ERAF) as "significant areas of cold-water corals and sponge dominated communities", where significance is determined "through guidance provided by DFO-lead processes based on current knowledge of such species, communities and ecosystems". Here we provide maps of the location of significant concentrations of corals and sponges on the east coast of Canada produced through quantitative analyses of research vessel trawl survey data, supplemented with other data sources where available. We have conducted those analyses following a bio-regionalization approach in order to facilitate modelling of similar species, given that many of the multispecies surveys do not record coral and sponge catch at species level resolution. The taxa analyzed are sponges (Porifera), large and small gorgonian corals (Alcyonacea), and sea pens (Pennatulacea). We applied kernel density estimation (KDE) to create a modelled biomass surface for each of those taxa, and applied an aerial expansion method to identify significant concentrations, following an approach first applied in 2010 to this region. We compared our results to those obtained previously. KDE uses only geo-referenced biomass data to identify "hot spots". The borders of the areas so identified can be refined using knowledge of null catches and species distribution models that predict species presence-absence and/or biomass, both incorporating environmental data.