AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Vehicle and sonde data from an autonomous underwater vehicle survey of Musquash Marine Protected Area

The Coastal Environmental Baseline Program is a multi-year Fisheries and Oceans Canada initiative designed to work with Indigenous and local communities and other key parties to collect coastal environmental data at six pilot sites across Canada (Port of Vancouver, Port of Prince Rupert, Lower St. Lawrence Estuary, Port of Saint John, Placentia Bay, and Iqaluit). The goal of the Program is to gather local information in these areas in effort to build a better understanding of marine ecological conditions. The Maritimes region has developed a habitat classification program to align with the oceanographic interests and data needs of local communities and stakeholders, with the goal of sharing this information via open data. In 2020, a habitat survey in the lower Musquash Marine Protected Area (MPA) was undertaken to further develop this project, using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) equipped with high-frequency (450 kHz) side scan sonar to build a habitat map of the MPA. This dataset includes mosaicked series of sonar images (raw & position-corrected versions), covering roughly 6 km2 of marine and intertidal areas in the Musquash MPA. Doppler Velocity logs and mission-specific files for each survey are also included, along with detailed methodological documentation. These data were generated from 17 separate survey missions that were completed in August, September and October 2020.

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Satellite-measured Chlorophyll-a concentration in the Canadian Beaufort Sea (1998-2020)

This record contains satellite-sensed chlorophyll-a concentration images of the Canadian Beaufort Sea at 1.1 km resolution. The dataset consists of 276 images, aggregated into two-week composites by calculating the mean value at each pixel, comprising years 1998 through 2020.

The dataset spans two ocean colour sensors, MODIS-Aqua and SeaWiFS. The Arctic Ocean Empirical algorithm was used to calculate chlorophyll-a concentration, after images were corrected for atmospheric effects using the NIR-SWIR switching algorithm, and Remote Sensing Reflectance (Rrs) were produced. A linear transform in log-10 space was applied to the chlorophyll-a concentration measured by SeaWiFS to improve its correlation with chlorophyll-a concentration measured by MODIS-Aqua.

The months of October through February were excluded from these datasets as the sun angle in winter is too low (e.g., polar night) for reliable data to be acquired, and the region is mostly covered in sea ice. 

For further details, see Galley et al., 2022.

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Canada's designated alternate ballast water exchange areas

This data is intended to identify Canadian Alternate Exchange Areas described in https://tc.canada.ca/en/marine-transportation/marine-safety/list-canada-s-designated-alternate-ballast-water-exchange-area-fresh-waters-tp-13617e-2021. The data is not intended for navigation purposes.

According to Canada’s Ballast Water Regulations, if your vessel enters waters under Canadian jurisdiction from somewhere other than the U.S. waters within the Great Lakes Basin, and it cannot conduct a ballast water exchange in the areas set out in paragraphs 14(1)(a) and (b) of the regulations, then it will have to conduct a ballast water exchange in one of the areas listed below:

-Gulf of St. Lawrence

-Atlantic Canada-Western Canada

-Canadian Eastern Arctic

-Canadian Western Arctic: If you bring your vessel to a Canadian port, offshore terminal or anchorage area in the Western Arctic ballast water must be exchanged in an area as far away from shore as possible, where the water is more than 100 meters deep.

Legal Constraints: Users should be aware that the polygons depicting ballast water exchange areas are intended for illustration only and should not be used for navigational or legal purposes.

Organization: Transport Canada | Transports Canada
Northeast Pacific Monthly Mean Ocean Current Climatology (October - March)

This dataset provides 1/36-degree monthly mean ocean current climatology (October - March) in the Northeast Pacific. The climatological fields are derived from hourly ocean currents for the perid from 1993 to 2020, simulated using a high-resolution Northeast Pacific Ocean Model (NEPOM).

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Important Areas for Fish in Strait of Georgia Ecoregion

This layer details Important Areas (IAs) relevant to key fish species in the Strait of Georgia (SOG) ecoregion. This data was mapped to inform the selection of marine Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSA). Experts have indicated that these areas are relevant based upon their high ranking in one or more of three criteria (Uniqueness, Aggregation, and Fitness Consequences). The distribution of IAs within ecoregions is used in the designation of EBSAs.

Canada’s Oceans Act provides the legislative framework for an integrated ecosystem approach to management in Canadian oceans, particularly in areas considered ecologically or biologically significant. DFO has developed general guidance for the identification of ecologically or biologically significant areas. The criteria for defining such areas include uniqueness, aggregation, fitness consequences, resilience, and naturalness. This science advisory process identifies proposed EBSAs in Canadian Pacific marine waters, specifically in the Strait of Georgia (SOG), along the west coast of Vancouver Island (WCVI, southern shelf ecoregion), and in the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA, northern shelf ecoregion).

Initial assessment of IAs in PNCIMA was carried out in September 2004 to March 2005 with spatial data collection coordinated by Cathryn Clarke. Subsequent efforts in WCVI and SOG were conducted in 2009, and may have used different scientific advisors, temporal extents, data, and assessment methods. WCVI and SOG IA assessment in some cases revisits data collected for PNCIMA, but should be treated as a separate effort.

Other datasets in this series detail IAs for birds, cetaceans, coral and sponges, geographic features, invertebrates, and other vertebrates.

Though data collection is considered complete, the emergence of significant new data may merit revisiting of IAs on a case by case basis.

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Quoddy Region Pelagics Telemetry

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

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Pacific Salmon Designatable Units

The dataset consists of maps detailing the boundaries of the designatable units for conservation considerations as defined by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) for species of Pacific Salmon in British Columbia and the Yukon. Designatable units represent geographical areas that support groups of individuals with a unique genetic heritage makes them discrete and evolutionarily significant units of the taxonomic species, where “significant” means that the unit is important to the evolutionary legacy of the species as a whole and if lost is unlikely to be replaced through natural dispersion.

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Projected extreme sea levels under an intermediate emission scenario SSP245 for harbours in British Columbia

This dataset provides projected 30-year, 50-year, and 100-year return levels for harbours in British Columbia by 2050 and 2100 under an intermediate emission scenario SSP245, relative to the mean sea level over 1993-2020. The return levels are a combination of estimated present extreme sea levels and projected mean sea level rise. The present extreme sea levels are derived from hourly coastal sea levels for the period from 1993 to 2020, simulated using a high-resolution Northeast Pacific Ocean Model (NEPOM). The projected mean sea level rise is derived from the regional mean sea level rise data of the IPCC 6th Assessment Report under SSP245, adjusted for the local vertical land motion.

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Scientific survey of Icelandic scallop (Chlamys islandica) in the Mingan Archipelago (fishing areas 16E and 16F)

Research surveys targeting Icelandic scallops (Chlamys islandica) have been conducted by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) at one- or two-year intervals in the Mingan Archipelago (since 1990 in fishing area 16E and since 2004 in fishing area 16F). The main objective of this survey is to assess the status of Icelandic scallop stocks. 

The study area is situated around the Mingan Archipelago, where scallop beds are sampled at depths ranging from approximately 8 to 136 m, but typically around 40 to 60 m. Sampling is conducted along transects at fixed stations in the study area. Each station is sampled using a lined Digby scallop dredge (20 mm mesh size), towed for roughly 150 m across the seabed.

This publication includes three files: the file biometriePetoncle_16, which contains detailed biometric data (species, size, weights and sex) from 2001 to 2025; the file taillePetoncle_16, which provides the size of the individuals sampled from 2010 to 2024; and the file traitPetoncle_16 which contains the abundances and densities per tow from 2004 to 2024. Data on abundances and densities per tow from 2001-2003 is available upon request.

This dataset is updated every one to two years as data becomes available. A cleaning of aberrant data has been carried out. However, there is missing data in various columns of the dataset – use the data with caution. If you have any questions please contact DFO.DataManagementSAISB-GestionDonneesDAISS.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca or the author.  

For certain time periods, associated species are identified and semi-quantitatively counted directly on the sorting table, and the results are presented in the following publication: 
- https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/7d29bdb1-7e39-43ee-9fb1-bbf33cc9c9b9

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (NAFO Division 4T) Atlantic Herring Experimental Gillnet Surveys

PURPOSE:
To provide demographic parameters and relative indices of abundance for Atlantic herring in NAFO Division 4T.

DESCRIPTION:
The experimental gillnet survey is conducted in collaboration with Atlantic herring harvesters and uses standardized multi-mesh gillnets. Gillnets are set on spawning grounds in the spring and fall. Data (fish and sample) are collected to provide: (1) relative age-disaggregated indices of abundance, (2) an indicator of relative changes in fishery selectivity over time, and (3) information on the demographic composition of herring on the spawning grounds.
            
PARAMETERS COLLECTED:
Sample: sample location; sample weight; mesh size; length frequency
Biological: length; weight; gonad weight; maturity stage (biological); sex (biological); ring count (biological)

USE LIMITATION:
To ensure scientific integrity and appropriate use of the data, we would encourage you to contact the data custodian.

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Delineation of Coral and Sponge Significant Benthic Areas in Eastern Canada (2016)

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.

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Commercial catches sampling program in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence – winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus)

Summary
The Quebec region of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is responsible for the assessment of several fish and invertebrate stocks exploited in the Estuary and the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The commercial catches sampling program is one of the sources of information used to complete these assessments. The data collected by this program, at wharf or at sea, offers among other things the advantage of a relatively large spatio-temporal coverage and provides some of the necessary knowledge to assess the demography and the structure of the exploited populations. This program is implemented by specialized DFO staff whose main mandate is to collect biological data on groundfish, pelagic fish and marine invertebrate species that are commercially exploited in the various marine communities.

Data
This dataset on the winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) includes the metadata, sample weight, fish length, the sex and the number of specimens measured. This dataset covers the periods of 1992, 1997-2019. In order to protect the confidentiality of the sources, some informations (such as those concerning the vessel) have been excluded and others (such as the date of capture) have been simplified. Entries where there was only one vessel in a fishing area for a given year were also excluded. Further information including the fishing areas coordinates can be found by clicking on the «Atlantic and Arctic commercial fisheries» and «Fishing areas» links below.

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Commercial catches sampling program in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence – Atlantic lyre crab (Hyas araneus)

Summary
The Quebec region of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is responsible for the assessment of several fish and invertebrate stocks exploited in the Estuary and the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The commercial catches sampling program is one of the sources of information used to complete these assessments. The data collected by this program, at wharf or at sea, offers among other things the advantage of a relatively large spatio-temporal coverage and provides some of the necessary knowledge to assess the demography and the structure of the exploited populations. This program is implemented by specialized DFO staff whose main mandate is to collect biological data on groundfish, pelagic fish and marine invertebrate species that are commercially exploited in the various marine communities.

Data
This dataset on the Atlantic lyre crab (Hyas araneus) includes the metadata, sample weight, specimen weight, shell width and condition, sex and the right claw height of the specimens measured. This dataset covers the period of 2002 to present. In order to protect the confidentiality of the sources, some informations (such as those concerning the vessel) have been excluded and others (such as the date of capture) have been simplified. Entries where there was only one vessel for a given year and a fishing area were also excluded. Further information including the fishing areas coordinates can be found by clicking on the «Atlantic and Arctic commercial fisheries» and «Fishing areas» links below.

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Upwelling indices derived from GLORYS12 Model and ERA5 surface wind on the Scotian Shelf during 1993-2022

Estimates of wind-driven upwelling of colder water on the Scotian Shelf along the Nova Scotia coastline from 1993 to 2022 (inclusive) are presented, calculated using surface and 55m-depth water temperatures from the Global Ocean Physics Reanalysis (GLORYS12v1) product,  and also ERA5 surface winds.  GLORYS12v1 is a 1/12o data-assimilative reanalysis modelling product from Mercator Ocean International,  implemented by the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS; (https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00021). ERA5 is a weather forecast produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts   (ECMWF; https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47). Daily estimates are given of upwelling area and intensity (temperature anomaly between upwelled and non-upwelled water), calculated over the area of interest (AOI) on the Scotian Shelf. Yearly estimates are given of total upwelling duration and cumulative area for the year in question, further broken down into seasons: Spring (March-May), Summer (June-August), and Fall (September-November). Lastly, estimates of the yearly start/end dates of the cold-water upwelling season (lasting generally from March to November) are estimated.   The sea surface temperature (SST) data from GLORYS were validated against in-situ buoy observations (https://www.meds-sdmm.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/alphapro/wave/waveshare/metaData/meta_c44258.csv) and satellite-derived SST produced by Canadian Meteorological Centre (https://doi.org/10.5067/GHCMC-4FM02 and https://doi.org/10.5067/GHCMC-4FM03. These products may be used to gain knowledge of interannual variability of coastal upwelling on the ScS over the past 30 years.

Cite this data as: Tao, J., Casey, M., Lu, Y., and Shen, H. Upwelling indices derived from GLORYS12 Model and ERA5 surface wind on the Scotian Shelf during 1993-2022.
Published: December 2024. Ecosystems and Oceans Science, Maritimes region, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth NS. 
https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/a2da6bfd-92e3-434e-b9bd-456b7fc9e92b

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Fine-scale observations of high density Heliometra glacialis (Crinoidea) beds from five near-seafloor imagery transects from a two-year survey in the St. Anns Bank Marine Protected Area, Atlantic Canada

A derivative of DFO's benthic imagery surveys for the Marine Conservation Targets Program in the St. Anns Bank Marine Protected Area (https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/2a55e2b4-cbb6-4fea-b17e-a16f5e99e68f), occurrence records in this analysis represent presence/absence and density of a biogenic habitat-forming species in five drift-camera transects in the southeast corner of the MPA, off the coast of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. Presence/absence and count data of the unstalked crinoid (Heliometra glacialis) were derived from the use of high-resolution Nikon D850 still images (n=428, see link to parent record for more descriptive survey information and complete imagery dataset) and continuous high-definition video observations (approximately one observation every second using a 1Cam Mk6, SubC Imaging camera; n=8522). Densities were estimated by dividing the crinoid counts by the field of view (calculated from lasers with 10-cm spacing). Substrates were reported for each video observation, documenting the dominant substrate (>50% cover) according to a modified Wentworth scale (i.e., sand, gravel, pebble, cobble, boulder, bedrock; Wentworth 1922). Crinoids were observed in ~44% of the area of the five transects (~4811 m2), forming dense beds along sloped features from 77-119-m depths, predominantly on cobble and pebble substrates, reaching densities of up to 59 ind. m-2 and 139 ind. m-2 in the digital still images and video observations, respectively.

Cite this data as: Lawton P, Teed L. Fine-scale observations of high density Heliometra glacialis (Crinoidea) beds from five near-seafloor imagery transects from a two-year survey in the St. Anns Bank Marine Protected Area, Atlantic Canada. Published March 2026. Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, St. Andrews, N.B.

References:

- Wentworth, C.K. 1922. A scale of grade and class terms for clastic sediments. The Journal of Geology 30(5): 377-392.

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Pelagic Fish Trawl Survey of Lake Winnipeg

To better understand patterns of temporal and spatial variation of fish assemblages in offshore waters of Lake Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada), pelagic trawl tows were conducted at lakewide monitoring stations since 2002. Trawl samples collected during spring, summer, and fall from the south basin, channel, and north basin were used to study effects of season and geographic region within the lake on species biomass estimates.

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Harbor seal breeding and feeding areas in the Saguenay Fjord, the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence

Layer that includes the known information on harbor seal breeding and feeding areas in the Saguenay Fjord, the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence according to a literature review of documents produced between 1968 and 2001.

Additional Information

Harbor seal breeding and feeding areas were produced according to a literature review of the following documents: 

Andersen, A. et M. Gagnon. 1980. Les ressources halieutiques de l'estuaire du Saint-Laurent. Rapp. can. ind. sci. halieut. aquat., 119: iv + 56 p.

Communications personnelles par Fournier, C. 1999.

Communications personnelles par Gosselin, J-F-. 1996.

Communications personnelles par Gosselin. J.-F. 2001.

Communications personnelles par Lavigueur, L. 1996.

Dignard, N., R. Lalumière, A. Reed et M. Julien. 1991. Les habitats côtiers du nord-est de la Baie James. Publication hors-série no. 70. Environnement Canada, Service canadien de la faune. 30 p. + carte.

Enquête auprès des pêcheurs et agents du MEF et du MPO. 1995.

Mansfield, A. W. 1968. Seals and walruses. In: Beals, C.S., ed. Science, History and Hudson Bay. Vol. 1. Ottawa: Queen’s Printer. 501 p.

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada