AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Fish Monitoring Network (FMN) of St. Lawrence River Freshwater

The Fish Monitoring Network (FMN) is a St. Lawrence fish monitoring program, from Lac Saint-François to Québec, operated since 1995 by the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs. FMN samples standardized and reproducible data on fish populations in order to assess the health status of the St. Lawrence River freshwater sectors and its main tributaries. These official data were produced as part of the St. Lawrence Action Plan 2011-2026. For more information, please see the [data context](https://ogsl.ca/en/biodiversity/fishes/mffp-fmn/about).

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Infaunal Invertebrates and Contaminants in Saint John Harbour, New Brunswick, Canada

Drs. Heather Hunt (University of New Brunswick) and Karen Kidd (McMaster University) have been leading a long-term project sampling infaunal invertebrates, sediment contaminants, and sediment characteristics at subtidal sites in Saint John Harbour, NB, Canada. This multi-year project is establishing baseline data that can be used to assess cumulative environmental effects in Saint John Harbour.

Samples were collected yearly from 2011-2013 and from 2017-2021 in Fall (October or November) at 6 reference sites (3 in the inner harbour and 3 in the outer harbour) as well as at 15 potentially impacted sites (not all potentially impacted sites were sampled in all years). Samples were collected using a 0.1 m2 Smith McIntyre grab sampler. Infaunal invertebrates were counted from a portion of the grab with a surface area of 321 cm2 and identified to species level. Concentrations of contaminants (metals and other elements; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons until 2018, and polychlorinated biphenyls in 2011) were measured in surface sediment (upper 5 cm). Percent organic content (loss on ignition (LOI) at 550 and 950°C), total organic carbon (calculated from LOI), percent moisture, and % composition by grain size Wentworth size classes of the sediment were determined. See Van Geest et al. (2015) and Guerin et al. (2023) for detailed field and laboratory methods.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Port of Saint John provided funding to collect this data. This project is part of the Coastal Environmental Baseline Program Initiative under the Oceans Protection Plan of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

**REFERENCE**:

- [Guerin, A. J., Kidd, K. A., Maltais, M.-J., Mercer, A., & Hunt, H. L. (2024). Spatial patterns of sediment contamination and their influence on benthic infaunal communities in a highly tidal and industrial estuary in Atlantic Canada. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 198, 115872](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115872).

- [Guerin, A. J., K. A. Kidd, M.-J. Maltais, A. Mercer, and H. L. Hunt. 2023. Temporal and spatial trends in benthic infauna and potential drivers, in a highly tidal estuary in Atlantic Canada. Estuaries and Coasts. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-023-01222-w](https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-023-01222-w).

- [Van Geest, J. L., K. A. Kidd, H. L. Hunt, M.-J. Abgrall, M.-J. Maltais, and A. Mercer. 2015. Development of baseline data for long-term monitoring of sediment conditions at reference sites in Saint John Harbour, New Brunswick: benthic infaunal invertebrates and sediment contaminants 2011-2013. Canadian Manuscript Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 3076: 97](https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2015/mpo-dfo/Fs97-4-3076-eng.pdf).

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Analysis of the Quality of Life of the Betsiamites Estuary (2021-2022)

Despite its many natural habitats housing a multitude of living organisms and offering various uses to the community, the Betsiamites River estuary undergoes anthropogenic actions that alter its quality of life.

In order to acquire data in order to better target habitat protection needs, AMIK commissioned an analysis on surface water and sediments. Although surface sediments do not indicate a danger to living organisms in the estuary, the results obtained for surface water appear to be more worrying. Therefore, it becomes urgent to take measures aimed at restoring or maintaining the state of health of the estuary.

This project was funded by the Coastal Environmental Baseline Program under Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Oceans Protection Plan (OPP).

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Results of annual surveys of the intertidal zone near Pointe à John, from 2012 to present

Each fall, around the high tides of the equinox, a group of graduating students enrolled in the "Marine Bioecology" course carries out a sampling campaign in the mediolittoral zone around Pointe à John, near Bergeronnes. This course is part of the "*Techniques de bioécologie*" (Environmental and Wildlife management) program at the Cégep de Sherbrooke. The aim of this inventory is to introduce finishing students to work in the coastal marine zone. Sampling also allows them to plan work, prepare field equipment, collect samples, capture organisms, and measure physicochemical parameters. Back in the laboratory, they identify the organisms present in the samples, compile the results, and perform a few simple analyses of the results.

The sampling campaign includes several components: the harvesting of benthic macroinvertebrates sorted from collected sediment samples (endobenthos), the observation of benthic macroinvertebrates attached to the hard substrate (epibenthos), experimental fishing using fyke nets and bait traps, the measurement of salinity and water temperature, and the calculation of the percentage of algae cover.

As this is work carried out by people in training, the level of identification of the sampled organizations cannot be as accurate as the work carried out by professionals in the field. The field work is still supervised by the teacher in charge and by a practical work technician. The results of the laboratory analysis are also validated by the teacher in charge before they are published.

These inventories use a sampling protocol that has changed little since 2012. The results may therefore show some changes over several years in the invertebrate and fish community in the vicinity of Point à John.

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Microplastic Abundance in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland (2021)

Microplastics are plastic particles ranging from 1 µm to 5 mm. We studied the microplastic concentration in surface waters as well as the sediment of Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Canada. Surface water samples were collected with a Plankton as well as a Neuston net at nine stations and sediment samples were collected with Van-Veen grab at six stations within the Bay in the summer of 2021 and microplastics superior to 300 µm were isolated. The isolated microplastics were counted and categorized by size, shape, and color. Microplastic polymer composition was identified on a representative subsample by Raman microspectroscopy.

This dataset is divided into the individual visual counts for the Plankton net samples, the Neuston net samples, and the sediment samples. Additionally, the Raman microspectroscopy identification is listed separately.

This project is part of the Coastal Environmental Baseline Program Initiative under the Oceans Protection Plan of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Evaluate the Abundance of American Eels (Anguilla rostrata) and Act on the Connectivity of their Habitats, on the North Coast of the Gulf

The *Comité Zone d’Intervention Prioritaire Côte-Nord du Golfe* (ZIP CNG) decided to intervene in order to participate in the restoration of eels habitat connectivity on the North Shore. To do this, a project with two objectives was set up for the years 2024-2025 in order to begin the process, namely: (1) validate the presence of eels in rivers with impassable obstacles and characterize these obstacles and the habitat upstream; (2) design migration passes adapted to eels at selected dams. An inventory and characterization of obstacles to migration were thus made at the Riverin River (*MRC de Sept-Rivières*) and at the Sheldrake River (*MRC de Minganie*) in July and August 2024. Following the inventories, an external firm was commissioned to propose potential migration passes adapted to eel on the Riverin River.

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Maricultural Monitoring in Support of Quebec Shellfish Aquaculture Industry from 2008 to 2015: Temperature Data

From 2008 to 2015, a monitoring program in support of the Quebec mariculture industry was carried out by Merinov with the support of the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (French: Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation (MAPAQ)). The main objective was to compile and transmit relevant biological and environmental data to marine producers for the purpose of informed decision making during their commercial operations. Established for the three producing regions of maritime Quebec (Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Gaspésie and Côte-Nord), the mariculture monitoring program has made it possible to document in a synchronized manner some twenty mariculture sites (11 mussel farms, 7 pectin farms and 2 oyster farms). This was made possible through monitoring various biotic and abiotic parameters such as recruitment success (larvae and postlarvae) and collection performance of the cultivated species, proliferation of undesirable species (predators and epibionts) and the quality of the commercial product (meat yield).


This dataset contains a monitoring of water temperatures collected for the three regions: Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Côte-Nord and Gaspésie. For biotic monitoring data in support of the Quebec mariculture industry see [https://catalogue.ogsl.ca/fr/dataset/ca-cioos_8b0b9560-8621-4eeb-9cfd-bae5829b3849]. 


The reports are divided by year and sector of the mariculture industry.

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Analysis of the Effectiveness of the Coastal Protection Method: Maltais-Savard Ears System (2002)

The project involves evaluating the effectiveness of a beach restoration technique. The aim of this method is to counter the erosion of a sandy coast dominated by waves and tides and, more particularly in this case, to compensate for the end effect generated by the riprap. 

This project is a continuity of the work already undertaken in the year 2000 on a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the operation of a new type of coastal protection structure, consisting of an ears system called the Maltais-Savard ears system (SEMS). It was launched by the Comité ZIP de la Rive Nord de l'estuaire and the original concept of this system was invented by MM Lucien Maltais and Jean-Pierre Savard. The SEMS concept is based on the results of eight-year (1992-1999) field trials on a beach located in Baie Saint-Ludger (BSL), in the municipality of Pointe-aux-Outardes, Quebec, Canada.

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
The Salt Marsh of Ti-Basse (Port-Cartier) - Characterization of Important Coastal Habitats on the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence

The purpose of this project is to generate ecological reference data to draw a global portrait of the state of coastal marshes in the *Côte-Nord* sector of Quebec, as part of the Coastal Environmental Reference Data Program, funded by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, funded by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The program to characterize coastal wetlands in the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence was subsidized for a period of 4 years (2023-2027). This dataset covers the salt marsh sector from Ti-Basse to Port-Cartier. In order to acquire as much knowledge as possible about the North Shore territory, the *Comité ZIP Côte-Nord du Golfe* (ZIP CNG) carried out ichthyological and floristic inventories, and characterized the physicochemical parameters as well as the abiotic factors of the marsh in the summer of 2024. Benthic inventories were also carried out in the summer of 2025.

It is also possible to consult the datasets of the other salt marshes linked to this project:

- [**The Salt Marsh of the Rivière Brochu (Gallix)**](https://catalogue.ogsl.ca/en/dataset/ca-cioos_d33ef8ea-e22e-411e-a1be-972a57729fdd)
- [**The Salt Marsh of the Grande Baie (Port-Cartier)**](https://catalogue.ogsl.ca/en/dataset/ca-cioos_3ff0420f-2915-4287-9edf-7b659d69bd2c)
- [**The Salt Marsh of the Baie Cachée (Port-Cartier)**](https://catalogue.ogsl.ca/en/dataset/ca-cioos_e699c0a1-ee1d-4343-9eaa-41ea85333ddf)

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Multiparametric Decision Support Tool for the Opening Date of the Lobster Fishery in LFA 22 : Monitoring Lobster Eggs Development

Egg development analysis data during the 2020 lobster fishing season in LFA22. Monitoring the development of lobster eggs is included in the project Deployment of a multiparametric decision support tool for the opening date of the lobster fishery for Lobster Fishing Area 22 of the Rassemblement des pêcheurs et pêcheuses des côtes des îles(RPPCI), funded by the Quebec Fisheries Fund (MAPAQ and DFO), over 2 years. 


Lobster eggs are taken from female eggs by two volunteer commercial fishermen who are part of the RPPCI. Eggs are harvested from 10 females once a week on each facade of the Islands (North and South). Fishermen also installed Minilog II temperature loggers supplied by Merinov on one of their cages. The analysis is done by Merinov using a binocular and Image Pro image analyzer software. The proportion of the eye to the egg, linked to the temperature data, makes it possible to estimate the hatching date of the eggs. In 2020, the commercial fishing dates were from 9 May to 11 July. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, data for the first week could not be collected.


You can find the other project data in the catalog. Environmental monitoring data are available here (https://catalogue.ogsl.ca/en/dataset/ca-cioos_96bf3c76-a010-4637-bff5-59256f2637cc) and data on lobster monitoring in preseason fisheries can be viewed here (https://catalogue.ogsl.ca/en/dataset/ca-cioos_9c10259d-9433-4be2-abf9-7eb8b5fac5ad).

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Historical and Current Data From the Experimental Fishery of the Aquarium du Québec

Based in Saint-Nicolas, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, the *Aquarium du Québec's* experimental fishery has been monitoring fish communities in the fluvial estuary since 1971. This fascination fishery collected the longest time series on the diversity and abundance of freshwater fish in eastern Canada.

The database gathers information on the daily catches of fish from mid-May to the end of October from 1975 to 2024 for the Saint-Nicolas sector as well as total annual catches from 1971 to 1974. In addition, it contains two unique series of daily catches at two fishing sites adjacent to Saint-Nicolas: from 1944 to 1957 (Neuville) and 1962 (Saint-Romuald). This data has been the subject of several scientific publications over the last decades. For more information please consult the [context of the data](https://ogsl.ca/fr/biodiversite-poissons-aquarium-du-quebec-sepaq-a-propos)available on the SLGO website.

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Vehicle and Sonde Data from an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Survey of Musquash Marine Protected Area (2020)

Using an autonomous underwater vehicle (Ecomapper) equipped with a sonde (EXO), DVL (RDI) and side-scan sonar (Sunfish), the Fisheries and Oceans Canada surveyed zones 2 and 3 of the Musquash Marine Protected Area in Southwestern New Brunswick between August and November of 2020.


The primary function of this survey was to identify differences in marine habitat in sub-tidal and inter-tidal zones of the Marine Protected Area (MPA) and provide baseline bathymetry data for identifying future changes in the MPA (sedimentation and erosion). Side scan sonar data (available in another dataset) provides baseline data for evaluating bottom type and structure.


This project was funded by DFO Coastal Environmental Baseline Program under Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan (OPP).

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Data From Weather Stations Along the St. Lawrence, From the Great Lakes to the Gulf

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has specialized meteorological services, among other things, the collection of continuous weather data through a network of weather stations across Canada. On the SLGO portal, data from those stations are available in real time and archived format since April 2014. For more information, please see the [**data context**](https://ogsl.ca/en/navigation/marine-conditions-meteo-st/ec/summary).

Parameters: wind speed, wind direction, gusts, air temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, visibility.

View data in the [**MARINE CONDITIONS**](https://ogsl.ca/conditions/?lg=en) application.

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Arctic Expedition aboard the CCGS Amundsen (2015)

This dataset contains the complete expedition report, the expedition map as well as a list of stations and sampling types. The 2015 Expedition Report describes the scientific expedition carried out in the Canadian Arctic between April 17 and November 1, 2015. The report is a collection of all the participating research teams’ Cruise reports assembled by the Chief Scientists at the end of LEG 1, LEG 2, LEG 3 and LEG 4 of the 2015 CCGS Amundsen summer expedition . The 2015 Expedition Report is divided into two parts:

Part I provides an overview of the expedition, the ship track and the stations visited, and a synopsis of operations conducted during each of the three LEGs.

Part II contains the reports submitted by participating science teams or researchers, with details on the specific objectives of their project, the field operations conducted and methodology used, and in some cases, preliminary results. When results are presented, they show the data as they were submitted at the end of the legs in 2015. The data presented in the report are illustrative only and have not been quality checked, thus parties interested in the results should contact the project leader or the researchers who collected the data or the data. The sections in Part II describing each project are organized with atmospheric, surface, ocean and sea ice components, followed by water column properties, which include the mooring program, CTD-Rosette operations and physical properties, as well as a suite of chemical and biological parameters. The last sections present contaminants cycling in seawater and biota, seabed mapping, sediments and benthos sampling, and ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) operations.

The 2015 Expedition Report includes four appendices: 1) the list of stations sampled, 2) the scientific log of activities conducted, 3) a copy of the CTD logbook and 4) the list of participants on board during each LEG.

The core oceanographic data generated by the CTD-Rosette operations, as well as meteorological information (AVOS : Automated Voluntary Observing Ship; Environnement Canada) and data collected using the Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP), the ship-mounted current meter (SM-ADCP) and the thermosalinograph (TSG) are available in the [**Polar Data Catalogue (PDC)**](https://www.polardata.ca/pdcsearch/?doi_id=12713)

It is possible to consult an [**interactive map**](https://data.amundsen.ulaval.ca/) including all the years of expeditions and the different trajectories (LEG) associated with them.

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Real-Time Surface Currents Measured by High-Frequency Radars in the Estuary

ISMER produces surface current data from high frequency (HF) radar deployed along the coast of the St. Lawrence Estuary. These data are dessiminate in real time on the SLGO. For more information, please see the [**data context**](https://ogsl.ca/en/navigation/marine-conditions-radar/ismer/summary).

For more information about the project as a whole, visit: https://meopar.ca/improving-marine-drift-and-dispersion-forecasts/.

Access the data in the [**MARINE CONDITIONS**](https://ogsl.ca/conditions/?lg=en) application.

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
CHONe II project (Canadian Healthy Oceans Network): baseline bio-optical data in the Bay of Sept-Îles, optical data

This dataset includes water optical parameters sampled in situ such as reflectance at sea surface and bottom, diffuse attenuation coefficient, downwelling irradiance and more. Biogeochemical data are available via the following dataset:

- https://catalogue.ogsl.ca/en/dataset/ca-cioos_e5595db1-0684-4148-a322-6e9b68f52c4c

CHONe II’s research explores the characteristics that define how Canada’s oceans will respond to management strategies such as networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), spatial closures, and restoration efforts. Our research also addresses how ocean stressors such as pollution, climate change, and fishing - individually and collectively - alter ocean life and how ocean environments work, including intensively used environments that provide food and other resources.

Under this research program, 10 field campaigns were conducted in the Bay of Sept-Îles area from 2016 to 2019 in order to establish baseline bio-optical information to promote and develop optical remote sensing tools for monitoring purposes.

The NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) Canadian Healthy Oceans Network II (CHONe II), strategic partnership of Canadian university researchers and government scientists, brings together 39 researchers from universities and federal research labs from coast to coast in Canada. The Network trains many interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers. CHONe II partners with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and INREST (Institut nordique de recherche en environnement et en santé au travail); representing the Port of Sept-Îles and the City of Sept-Îles).

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Freshwater Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Monitoring Program in the St. Lawrence River from 2018 to 2022 - Data from the Quebec Region

Fisheries and Oceans Canada has implemented a monitoring program for freshwater aquatic invasive species (AIS) in the St. Lawrence River, which began in 2018. The data in this database covers the Quebec region for the 2018-2022 period. The objectives of this program are to detect new AIS as quickly as possible, to monitor their dispersal and to minimize the risks of introduction and dispersal through awareness and rapid response.

The freshwater aquatic invasive species monitoring program focuses on six species, including four pelagic crustaceans and the veliger larvae of two mussels of the family Dreissenidae. For more information, please see the [data background](https://ogsl.ca/en/biodiversity-invasive-species-dfo-ais-freshwater-about/).

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory
Location of the St. Lawrence River Estuary Strech Vulnerability Areas (2016)

This database details the location of vulnerability areas allowing to identify priority sectors to consider in the case of the event of an oil spill. For each of the targeted areas, different elements of vulnerability were taken into account. The identification of the zones was done on the whole territory of the Comité ZIP Les Deux Rives which extends from the city of Trois-Rivières to Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, on the north shore, and between municipal boundaries of Bécancour and Deschaillons-sur-Saint-Laurent, on the south shore.

Organization: St. Lawrence Global Observatory