Map of harbours critical to fishing and aquaculture industries managed by harbour authorities (Core fishing harbours), harbours that support fishing and aquaculture industries that aren’t managed by harbour authorities (Non-core fishing harbours), and harbours that support the recreational community (Recreational harbours).

The Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Regions dataset is comprised of the polygons representing Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Regions in Alberta. Alberta Public Safety and Emergency Services, Government of Alberta, manages the Fish and Wildlife enforcement services to provide the public and other government departments' information regarding the locations of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Regions throughout the province.

In 2015, a spawning ground acoustic survey that follows the design of the fishery-independent acoustic survey was initiated. This survey is the result of a partnership between DFO and fishery associations. The survey design uses random parallel transects within predefined strata. Surveys are conducted by fishermen in the fall fishing season according to protocols developed by DFO. The survey is conducted at night, during the weekend fishery closures except in Herring fishing area 16C and 16E in 2015 to 2017, where this region didn’t have weekend closures. The spawning ground acoustic survey is meant to provide a nightly estimate of spawning biomass among regions. It is analyzed in the same manner as the fishery-independent acoustic survey. The catches from the experimental nets are used to calibrate the spawning group specific target strength in order to obtain the nightly estimates of spawning biomass.

In 2009, Fisheries and Oceans Canada published the Policy on Managing the Impacts of Fishing on Sensitive Benthic Areas. To support the implementation of this policy, a Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) process was initiated to: assess the distribution of fishing effort in Canada’s Atlantic and Eastern Arctic waters from 2005-2014, evaluate the overlap between fishing effort and Significant Benthic Areas (SiBAs), and identify areas of potential conservation concern. Although Research Document 2018/15 (Koen-Alonso et al. 2018), detailing this work, has not been updated since publication, the methodology outlined within it is still used to generate updated fishing effort layers as new data becomes available. This record illustrates cumulative fishing effort in Canada’s Atlantic and Eastern Arctic waters from 2005-2023, and is based on commercial logbook and vessel monitoring system (VMS) data. Fishing effort has been standardized into percentiles, whereby the top 20th percentile of intensity (cell values ≥20) represent cells containing the most intense fishing activities.

This report outlines the results of a project that created a series of maps tracking inshore historical Lobster fishing district boundaries from 1899 to present. This work has been part of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) Blue Economy Lobster Team (BELT) pilot project on the Lobster fishery. To provide the context for the use of historical information within fisheries research, this report provides a brief summation of the discipline of history, its purpose, and its methods. It also describes the different ways that historical data has been used to support the analysis of fisheries, and some of the ways that historians have integrated the techniques of natural and social sciences into their own work. It provides an overview of how the BELT has incorporated historical methods and methodologies into the team’s overall work. The report presents two sets of maps that outline geographical changes in Lobster fishing districts (called Lobster Fishing Areas after 1985) as well as changes in minimum legal size (MLS) and season length information. These maps help to inform a larger understanding of the historical Lobster fishery in the present-day Maritimes Region, and highlight several themes within the fishery. This includes the increasingly intensive regulation of the fishery over time, the inshore nature of the Lobster fishery for the majority of the twentieth century, the variability in the boundaries of Lobster districts over time, and the broad transition from a cannery-based market to a live Lobster market. The maps taken as a whole help to demonstrate consistency of the regulatory approach to Lobster over the twentieth century. However, there are limitations to the interpretive capacity of these maps, as more work should be done to investigate the specific reasoning behind why each change occurred.**Note: The outer boundaries depicted from 1899-1974 are not meant to represent areas where DFO or its predecessor departments had complete or authoritative control of the inshore fishery. In past regulations, districts were described as “on and along the coast.” The outer boundaries assigned to maps prior to 1985 were chosen to make the maps easy to understand relative to current lobster fishing areas.

The Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Districts dataset is comprised of the polygons representing Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Districts in Alberta. Alberta Public Safety and Emergency Services, Government of Alberta, manages the Fish and Wildlife enforcement services to provide the public and other government departments' information regarding the locations of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Districts throughout the province.

Saskatchewan Sport Fish Management Zones as described in the fisheries regulations.Spatial dataset created to represent the provincial sport fishing management zones within Saskatchewan as described in Table 5 of the Fisheries Regulations.  Saskatchewan is divided into three management zones for angling regulations.  Differences in the opening and closing dates for the angling season occur between zones, with certain lakes in each zone having special regulations applied to them.  Consult the Anglers’ Guide for further information on specific dates and/or limits. 

PURPOSE:"Biological, relative abundance, and environmental data have been collected from the Yellowknife River Cisco population that can be used to inform fisheries management decision-making. Under the conditions of a commercial licence issued under the New Emerging Fisheries Policy, licence holders are required to record catch and biological information to support the assessment of the feasibility and sustainability of the fishery over time, and potential advancement in the stages of a developing fishery. In addition to the information collected from the commercial harvest (fishery-dependent), a fishery-independent sampling and snorkel survey program was conducted with the objective of collecting additional biological, observational, and environmental data during the fall spawning run.The objective of this report is to compile available data from fishery-dependent and fishery-independent sampling of adfluvial Yellowknife River Cisco during fall, 1998-2020*, specifically by:• Summarizing commercial fishery quotas and reported harvest;• Characterizing population demographics and examining for trends over time;• Summarizing metrics of relative abundance (i.e., catch-per-unit-effort data and snorkel survey observations) and examining for trends over time; and• Determining if there were any associations between relative abundance of Cisco and river discharge and temperature. *A commercial harvest occurred in 1998, although no biological or catch-effort records were located. In addition, in response to concerns about the status of the population, the fishery was put on hold 2006–2009 to allow for a population assessment (no data during that time). DESCRIPTION:Cisco (Coregonus artedi) from the Yellowknife River, Northwest Territories, are an important fishery resource for nearby communities. Biological, catch-effort, and environmental data were collected from the Yellowknife River (Tartan Rapids and Bluefish areas) during their fall spawning run from Great Slave Lake. Data from the commercial harvest (fishery-dependent; 1998–2020) and supplementary monitoring (fishery-independent; 2013–2020) of these adfluvial Cisco were compiled to summarize commercial fishery quotas and reported harvest, characterize population demographics and catch-effort over time, and assess potential associations between relative abundance and seasonal river characteristics. A single commercial fishing licence for Cisco was issued on an annual basis each fall for 1,000 kg from 1998–2002, 2,000 kg from 2004–2005, 1,000 kg from 2010–2018, and 1,500 kg from 2019–2020. Cisco ranged from 102–239 mm fork length, 10.0–139.6 g round weight, and 1 and 9 years of age, with the majority of fish (>99%) being sexually mature. The demographics (length, weight, age) of the spawning population collected from the commercial fishery remained relatively stable between 1999 and 2020. Catch-effort of the commercial fishery varied widely among years without trend, although this was not standardized to the number of individuals/nets used to capture the fish. The biological, catch-effort, and environmental data collected from the Yellowknife River spawning population of Cisco serve as a benchmark for their ongoing assessment and management.

The Maritimes Region is divided into seven Clam Harvesting Areas (CHA).CLAM HARVESTING AREA 1 is described as follows:The inland and tidal waters of the counties of Colchester, Cumberland and Hants that border and flow into the Bay of Fundy.CLAM HARVESTING AREA 2 is described as follows:The inland and tidal waters of the counties of Annapolis, Digby and Kings.CLAM HARVESTING AREA 3 is described as follows:The inland and tidal waters of Yarmouth County.Time restrictions for Clam Harvesting Area 3: No person shall fish for clams from sunset each Saturday until sunrise on the following Monday (closed Sundays) in the boundaries of Clam Harvesting Area 3.CLAM HARVESTING AREA 4 is described as follows:The inland and tidal waters of the counties of Shelburne, Queens and Lunenburg and that portion of Halifax County west of Pennant Point (as defined in the Territorial Sea Geographical Coordinates Order (C.R.C., c. 1550), Schedule I, Area 4).CLAM HARVESTING AREA 5 is described as follows:The inland and tidal waters of Guysborough County and that portion of Halifax County east of Pennant Point (as defined in the Territorial Sea Geographical Coordinates Order (C.R.C., c. 1550), Schedule I, Area 4).CLAM HARVESTING AREA 6 is described as follows:The inland and tidal waters of the counties of Richmond and Cape Breton, all of Victoria County except that portion between Cape North and Inverness County and that portion of Inverness County that borders on the Bras d'Or Lakes.NEW BRUNSWICK - BAY OF FUNDY CLAM HARVESTING AREA 7 is described as follows:The inland and tidal waters of the counties of Charlotte, Saint John and Albert that flow into the Bay of Fundy.

Fisheries landings and effort mapping of the inshore lobster fishery on the DFO Maritimes Region statistical grid (2012-2014). This report describes an analysis of Maritimes Region inshore lobster logbook data reported at a grid level, including Bay of Fundy Grey Zone data reported at the coordinate level. Annual and composite (2012–2014) grid maps were produced for landings, number of license-days fished, number of trap hauls, and the same series standardized by grid area, as well as maps of catch weight per number of trap hauls as an index of catch per unit effort (CPUE). Spatial differences in fishing pressure, landings, and CPUE are indicated, and potential mapping applications are outlined. Mapping the distribution and intensity of inshore lobster fishing activity has management applications for spatial planning and related decision support. The lack of region-wide latitude and longitude coordinates for lobster effort and landings limits the utility of commercial logbook data for marine spatial planning purposes.