The project (Quoddy Region Pelagics Telemetry) will support the assessment of the effects of aquaculture on the distribution and abundance of pelagic fishes (salmon, mackerel, herring) and large predators (shark, marine mammals) in Passamaquoddy Bay and the Bay of Fundy, an area of intense finfish culture. An acoustic receivers network is placed yearly (from April to December) across various passageways, locations of project-specific interest, and at aquaculture sites in the region. Tagged pelagic species will be tracked through the network to provide information on migration routes, movement speed, survival rates and suspected predators, and determine interaction and residence at aquaculture sites. The network was utilized for monitoring the passage of: hatchery-reared wild salmon (n=340) released in the Magaguadavic River in 2018, 2019 and 2021, wild alewives (n=30) from the St. Croix River in 2021, and farmed Atlantic salmon released in the wild (n=99) in 2021. The receiver network has more recently supported adjacent projects on the use of the region by white shark and porbeagle as well as the residence of mackerel, herring, and sculpin at farm sites. The receivers additionally support other researchers with detection of striped bass, Inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon, sturgeon, and many other species. Placement of the network will continue into 2025 inclusive with the longer-term goal to eventually deploy an array covering the entrance to the Bay of Fundy.Cite this data as: Trudel, M., Wilson, B., Black, M. 2023. Assessing bay-scale impacts of aquaculture operations on the distribution and abundance of pelagic fishes and large predators. Accessed via the Ocean Tracking Network OBIS IPT in January 2025 (version 3.1). https://doi.org/10.14286/xfa6sr

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. Data collected in shelf and slope waters of Alaska to depths less than 400 meters are part of this larger survey series, but are limited to 1995-2011. These surveys focused on determining the migratory patterns (1992-2002) and on the growth and physiology (2003-2011) of juvenile Pacific Salmon. The surveys had funding support from the Bonneville Power Administration as part of the 1995-2011 Canada-USA Salmon Shelf Survival Study. The intent of that study was to monitor and evaluate the effects of ocean conditions on the distribution, migration, growth, and survival of Pacific salmon during their first ocean year, and estimate the subsequent impacts on abundance of Chinook salmon adults returning to the Columbia River system.

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. Data collected in shelf and slope waters at depths less than 400 meters off Washington and Oregon State are part of this larger survey series, but are limited to 1999-2001. These surveys focused on determining the migratory patterns of juvenile Pacific Salmon and had funding support from the Bonneville Power Administration as part of the 1995-2011 Canada-USA Salmon Shelf Survival Study. The intent of that study was to monitor and evaluate the effects of ocean conditions on the distribution, migration, growth, and survival of Pacific salmon during their first ocean year, and estimate the subsequent impacts on abundance of Chinook salmon adults returning to the Columbia River system.

Acoustic telemetry allows detailed observations of the movement behaviour of many species and as tags get smaller, smaller organisms may be tagged. The number of studies using acoustic telemetry to evaluate marine invertebrate movement is growing, but novel attachment methods include unknowns about the effects of tagging procedures on individual survival and behaviour. This study compared methods of tag attachment on green sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) to determine the feasibility of using acoustic transmitters to track echinoid movement. Four tagging methods were compared in the lab and tag retention, urchin condition, and survival analysed. Two tagging methods (Dyneema® fishing line and T-bar tags) were evaluated in the field using an existing acoustic telemetry array. Urchins were tagged and the study area revisited one week and 2 months post-release by scuba divers to estimate movement and tag retention. The best methods in the lab, with high tag retention, survival, and minimal effects on urchin condition, were fishing line methods. T-bar tags, although showing high tag retention, caused significant mortality and had deleterious long-term effects on urchin condition and behaviour. After 2 months in the field, as in the lab, fishing line was a more effective tagging method. Urchins tagged with fishing line showed increased estimates of space occupancy compared to T-bar-tagged urchins and a single fishing-line tagged individual was found by divers in good health after 80 days. Combined, these laboratory and field results demonstrate the feasibility of using acoustic telemetry to observe urchin movement. Results strongly suggest that surgical attachment methods that minimize injuries at the attachment site should be prioritized for echinoid tagging studies. Together, lab and field tests indicate that acoustic telemetry is a promising method to examine marine echinoid movement over ecologically relevant spatial and temporal scales.The data available includes the laboratory data (tag retention, survival, diameter, wet weight, gonad weight and condition/righting time) and the field data (metadata and acoustic telemetry detections for tagged individuals, results of diver searches and 2-day estimates of movement measured in the field). Data from the laboratory experiment and diver observations in the field have been verified and undergone a control for quality. Acoustic telemetry detections are raw detection files (unfiltered); see the published article for a description of how the data were treated for analyses (https://doi.org/10.1186/s40317-022-00309-8).

Polar cod (Boreogadus saida), Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), and Greenland cod (Gadus macrocephalus) are prominent gadid species within the northwest Atlantic Ocean in terms of their ecological and socio-economic importance but it is unclear how climate-induced changes in ocean temperature may alter their distributions by the end of the century (2100). We used physiologically based species distribution models to predict how ocean warming will influence the availability of suitable habitat for early life-stages in these marine gadids. We applied CMIP5 ocean temperature projections to egg survival and juvenile growth models for Polar cod, Atlantic cod, and Greenland cod to create predicted suitability raster surfaces for these metrics across four climatology periods (1981–2005, 2026–2050, 2051–2075, 2076–2100). The analysis focused on the projected changes in temperature in ocean shelf areas where ocean depth is ≤400 m. We created an integrated habitat suitability index by combining the suitability surfaces for egg survival and growth potential to predict areas and periods where thermal conditions were suitable for both life stages. The resulting surfaces indicate that suitable thermal habitat for the juvenile life stages of all three species will shift poleward, but the magnitude of the shift and the overall area of thermally suitable habitat remaining will differ across species and life stages through time. Modelled layers are provided in NetCDF format by metric (egg survival, growth potential, habitat suitability). Data layers for Polar cod, Atlantic cod, and Greenland cod are included within each NetCDF file as variables across time. Note that in this study we refer to Gadus macrocephalus/ogac as Greenland cod since Gadus ogac is thought to be a junior synonym of Gadus macrocephalus (Carr et al., 1999). For more details on the methods and results for this analysis see Cote et al. (2021).References:Carr, S. M., Kivlichan, D. S., Pepin, P., & Crutcher, D. C. (1999). Molecular systematics of gadid fishes: implications for the biogeographic origins of Pacific species. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 77(1), 19–26. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-77-1-19Cote, D., Konecny, C. A., Seiden, J., Hauser, T., Kristiansen, T., & Laurel, B. J. (2021). Forecasted Shifts in Thermal Habitat for Cod Species in the Northwest Atlantic and Eastern Canadian Arctic. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8(November), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.764072

The Labour Force Distribution (LFD) maps are derived from the CanEcumene 2.0 Geodatabase using custom tabulations of census-based labour force data. These LFD maps were calculated for each of the five major natural resource sectors in Canada: Forestry, Fisheries, Agriculture, Minerals, and Petroleum and Coal. The measure used is the labour force of each sector as a proportion of the goods-producing sectors in the economy. Labour force proportions were first calculated at the individual community level, and then interpolated on a regional level using GIS (see Eddy et. al. 2020 for more detail). In effect, these maps show the strong importance of Canada’s natural resource sectors in various regions of the country. The darker the tone in each map indicates a region’s higher degree of dependency on a given sector for their economic livelihood.

Important sites: reproduction, feeding and concentration area. Data extracted from the Fish Habitat Management Information System (FHAMIS) according to a literature review of documents produced between 1976 and 1999.

This project was completed by the Salmonids Section in the Newfoundland and Labrador Science Branch of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). The Coastal Environmental Baseline Program has supported efforts in 2018 and 2019 of tagged Atlantic salmon smolts leaving the Bay de L’eau River and Rushoon River region of Placentia Bay. This was part of a larger four year tracking study in this region (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022) trying to improve DFO’s understanding of the residency, survival, and migration routes of Atlantic salmon smolts during the first months at sea within northwest Placentia Bay. As of spring 2023, four years of detection data were being processed with the goal of presenting this work at the next Atlantic salmon CSAS meeting and developing a primary publication. This record contains the locations there smolt were tagged in Placentia Bay, NL.

Catch, effort, location (latitude, longitude), relative abundance indices, and associated biological data from groundfish multi-species bottom trawl surveys in Queen Charlotte Sound.Introduction The Queen Charlotte Sound (QCS) synoptic bottom trawl survey was conducted annually from 2003 to 2005 and has since been repeated every second year on the odd-numbered years. The survey was not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This survey is one of a set of long-term and coordinated surveys that together cover the continental shelf and upper slope of most of the British Columbia coast. The other surveys are the Hecate Strait (HS) survey, the West Coast Vancouver Island (WCVI) survey, the West Coast Haida Gwaii (WCHG) survey, and the Strait of Georgia (SOG) survey. The objectives of these surveys are to provide fishery independent abundance indices of all demersal fish species available to bottom trawling and to collect biological samples of selected species. The surveys follow a random depth-stratified design and the sampling units are 2 km by 2 km blocks.The synoptic bottom trawl surveys are conducted by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) in collaboration with the Canadian Groundfish Research and Conservation Society (CGRCS), a non-profit society composed of participants in the British Columbia commercial groundfish trawl fishery. The Queen Charlotte Sound and West Coast Haida Gwaii surveys are conducted under collaborative agreements, with the CGRCS providing chartered commercial fishing vessels and field technicians, while DFO provides in-kind contributions for running the surveys including personnel and equipment. The Hecate Strait, West Coast Vancouver Island, and Strait of Georgia surveys are conducted by DFO and have typically taken place on a Canadian Coast Guard research vessel. Until 2016 this vessel was the CCGS W.E. Ricker. From 2021 onwards, this vessel was the CCGS Sir John Franklin. In years when a coast guard vessel has not been available, the Hecate Strait, West Coast Vancouver Island, and Strait of Georgia surveys have taken place on chartered industry vessels. Data from these surveys are also presented in the groundfish data synopsis report (Anderson et al. 2019).EffortThis table contains information about the survey trips and fishing events (trawl tows/sets) that are part of this survey series. Trip-level information includes the year the survey took place, a unique trip identifier, the vessel that conducted the survey, and the trip start and end dates (the dates the vessel was away from the dock conducting the survey). Set-level information includes the date, time, location, and depth that fishing took place, as well as information that can be used to calculate fishing effort (duration) and swept area. All successful fishing events are included, regardless of what was caught.CatchThis table contains the catch information from successful fishing events. Catches are identified to species or to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Most catches are weighed, but some are too small (“trace” amounts) or too large (e.g. very large Big Skate). The unique trip identifier and set number are included so that catches can be related to the fishing event information (including capture location). BiologyThis table contains the available biological data for catches which were sampled. Data may include any or all of length, sex, weight, age. Different length types are measured depending on the species. Age structures are collected when possible for species where validated aging methods exist and are archived until required for an assessment; therefore, all existing structures have not been aged at this time. The unique trip identifier and set number are included so that samples can be related to the fishing event and catch information.BiomassThis table contains relative biomass indices of species that have been captured in every survey of the time series. The coefficient of variation and bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals are provided for each index. The groundfish data synopsis report (Anderson et al. 2019) provides an explanation of how the relative biomass indices are derived.

Toponymic Features entity is Named Feature (geographical name or toponym). CanVec is a digital cartographic reference product of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). It originates from the best available data sources covering Canadian territory, offers quality topographical information in vector format, and complies with international geomatics standards. CanVec is a multi-source product coming mainly from the National Topographic Data Base (NTDB), the Mapping the North process conducted by the Canada Center for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO), the Atlas of Canada data, the GeoBase initiative, and the data update using satellite imagery coverage (e.g. Landsat 7, Spot, Radarsat, etc.).Distributed from [GeoYukon](https://yukon.ca/geoyukon) by the [Government of Yukon](https://yukon.ca/maps) . Discover more digital map data and interactive maps from Yukon's digital map data collection.For more information: [geomatics.help@gov.yk. ca](mailto:geomatics.help@yukon.ca)