This dataset identifies the geographic locations of marine ports, terminals, shipyards, and harbours on the west coast of British Columbia. The points were reviewed and cross referenced with government and industry data sources for geographic and attribute data accuracy.

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).

Sealion rafting areas. 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.

Location of Harbour Seal haulout locations in coastal BC waters. 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.

Benthic Marine Ecounits in coastal and offshore British Columbia. Benthic ecounits are intended to describe the sea bed and nearshore. Seven variables were selected to derive benthic ecounits: 1. Depth; 2. Slope; 3. Relief; 4. Temperature; 5. Exposure; 6. Current and 7. Substrate. 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.

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.

The annual summer scallop surveys on the principal grounds in the Bay of Fundy follow stratified-random designs. The gear comprises a ‘Digby scallop drag’ with four ‘buckets’, each of 760 mm inside width, their bags being made of 74 mm steel-wire rings linked by rubber washers. A comparative data set of three scallop grounds (Digby, Lurcher Shoal and Grand Manan) was produced comprised of 190 stations sampled in 1997 and 213 from 2007–08. Presence/absence of a common suite of 68 benthic invertebrate taxa were recorded: 43 individual species, 20 additional genera and five higher taxa, all drawn from nine phyla. Each taxon was coded for each of seven biological traits (each with associated modalities), selected for their assumed relevance to environmental drivers. A score between 0 and 3 was assigned based on the literature for the taxon’s affinity to each modality, using ‘fuzzy coding’. Non-zero scores were assigned to as many modalities as required to represent the traits of the taxon’s adult stage. The resulting taxa x traits matrix, of 68 taxa by 27 modalities, is provided here along with the metadata for each station sampled. In addition, fourteen environmental variables, deemed relevant to benthic epifauna and representing both seabed sediments and the water column, were quantified for each survey station. Seabed depth, mean grain size, mean significant wave height, mean seabed shear stress, root mean square tidal current speed 1 m above the seabed and combined averaged wave-current shear velocity were each extracted from a sediment transport model for the Bay of Fundy prepared by Li et al. (2015). Mean values for current velocities, salinity and temperature for both surface and bottom layers, plus maximum mixed layer depth and bottom shear were each drawn from the Bedford Institute of Oceanography North Atlantic Model (BNAM: Wang et al., 2018). BNAM values averaged across 1990–2015 were used when examining faunal differences among survey areas, but explorations of temporal change used annual values for 1997 and 2007 individually. The variable nomenclature in the attached spreadsheet follows those of Li et al. (2015) and Wang et al. (2018). Results of the spatial and temporal analyses of these data are found in Staniforth et al. (2023). The values for each of the environmental variables are provided in the spreadsheet below. Their interpolated surfaces are also provided.Cite this data as: MacDonald, Barry; Staniforth, Calisa; Lirette, Camille; Murillo, Francisco; Kenchington, Ellen; Kenchington, Trevor (2023). Benthic Megafaunal Assemblages on Scallop Fishing Grounds in the Bay of Fundy (1997 and 2007). Published May 2024. Ocean Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/935836da-a565-4f1e-806e-d354d8db252c

A novel towfish incorporating sidescan and video hardware was used to ground truth echosounder data for the nearshore of Halifax Harbour. The resulting sampling grid extended from the shoreline to a depth of 10 m, including Bedford Basin through the Inner Harbour to the Outer Harbour. Each of these three zones could be distinguished from the others based upon combinations of substrate type, benthic invertebrates, and macrophyte canopy. Bedford Basin had a relative lack of macrophytes and evidence of intense herbivory. The Inner Harbour was characterized by shoreline hardening due to anthropogenic activities. The Outer Harbour was the most “natural” nearshore area with a mix of bottom types and a relatively abundant and diverse macrophyte canopy. All survey data were placed into a GIS, which could be used to answer management questions such as the placement and character of habitat compensation projects in the harbour. Future surveys utilizing similar techniques could be used to determine long term changes in the nearshore of the harbour.Cite this data as: Vandermeulen H. Data of: A Video, Sidescan and Echosounder Survey of Nearshore Halifax Harbour. Published: September 2021. Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/9122c3e2-3cfc-45d0-ac36-aecb306130f6

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Maritime Science Branch has collected grain size data from sediment and water column samples using bottle samples, sediment cores, and sediment grabs as part of numerous research projects not only in the Atlantic provinces, but also worldwide. The data collected by DFO focuses on the fine grained (<1mm) particles as these are both a source of food and means of contaminant transport. Grain size data are used to study the fate and distribution of complimentary chemistries like heavy metals, pesticides, hydrocarbons, aquaculture waste as well as a variety of physical processes such as the resuspension and transport of sediment.

This dataset provides 30-year, 50-year, and 100 year return levels for small craft harbours in British Columbia, relative to the mean sea level over 1993-2020. The return levels are derived from coastal sea levels for the period from 1993 to 2020, simulated using a high-resolution Northeast Pacific Ocean Model (NEPOM).