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Maritimes Spring Research Vessel Surveys

Dataset homepage

Citation

Regnier-McKellar C (2022). Maritimes Spring Research Vessel Surveys. Version 1.2. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Sampling event dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/jcy6y4 accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-06-21.

Description

The Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) ecosystem surveys consist of research vessel survey data collected to monitor the distribution and abundance of fish and invertebrates throughout the Scotian Shelf, Bay of Fundy and Georges Bank. The surveys follow a stratified random sampling design, and include sampling of fish and invertebrates using a bottom otter trawl. These survey data are the primary data source for monitoring trends in species distribution, abundance, and biological condition within the region, and also provide data to the Atlantic Zonal Monitoring Program (AZMP) for monitoring hydrographic variability. Collected data includes total catch in numbers and weights by species. Length frequency data is available for most species, as are the age, sex, maturity and weight information for a subset of the individual animals. Other data such as ageing material, genetic material, and stomach contents are often also collected, but are stored elsewhere. “Spring” cruises occur in January, February, March and April, and focus on Georges Bank (i.e. 5Z).

Sampling Description

Study Extent

“Spring” cruises occur in January, February, March and April, and focus on Georges Bank (i.e. 5Z).

Sampling

Collected data includes total catch in numbers and weights by species. Length frequency data is available for most species, as are the age, sex, maturity and weight information for a subset of the individual animals. When a trawl is hauled, all of the individuals are sorted baskets by species, and the baskets are weighed to get total biomass for a species.
If we have a large catch, some baskets will be kept for detailed sampling and others will be discarded. Only a subset of these are individually weighed, thus there are some occurrences which have a length but no weight. When a trawl is hauled, all of the individuals for a given species are weighed and counted. These values become total biomass and individual count. For huge catches, the individual count is sometimes calculated from the weight. Prior to 1995, they used a spring scale for measuring total weight for a species. It recorded to the nearest kg. Small catches were entered as zero. For many species, you can see Zero as the biomass estimate throughout these years.
Prior to 2005, there are some invertebrate records, but the focus was primarily on commercial species (e.g. scallop, lobster).
The “Strong Effect” shows up in the mid-90’s when Mike Strong insisted they start sorting the sculpins and pouts more carefully and our species count went up. The standard ID guide used is Scott and Scott, Atlantic fishes of Canada, and it appeared in the late 1980’s. The guide available prior to that did not distinguish between Red Hake and White Hake. We can see this in our data. There are inconsistencies in using a separate code for Red Hake before about 1978. It does not have much impact on White Hake, which has a much higher biomass, but it does for Red Hake.
Below 40cm, winter and little skate ID is questionable.

Quality Control

Data are input while at sea using the in-house developed application Groundfish Entry System. Rigorous error checks and warnings are applied and edits take place during sampling in most cases. Further quality assurance checks are applied before loading to the production database. Scientific names associated with resource occurrence records have been mapped to recognized standards - marine taxa have been mapped to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). The WoRMS codes, the AphiaIDs have been included as LSIDs in the occurrence record DwC field scientificNameID.

Method steps

  1. To prepare this dataset for OBIS Canada publication, data was structured into an OBIS-compatible format using R and laid out in four tables: an Event Core, Occurrence Core and three Extended Measurement of Fact extensions. Defined vocabularies listed on the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Vocabulary Server (NVS) were used whenever possible. Taxon matches were obtained from WoRMS.

Taxonomic Coverages

  1. Actinopterygii
    common name: Ray-finned fishes rank: class
  2. Anthozoa
    common name: Sea anemones/Stony Corals/Soft corals rank: class
  3. Ascidiacea
    common name: Ascidians/Tunicates/Sea Squirts rank: class
  4. Asteroidea
    common name: Sea Stars rank: class
  5. Bivalvia
    common name: Bivalve molluscs rank: class
  6. Cephalopoda
    common name: Cephalopods rank: class
  7. Demospongiae
    common name: Sponges rank: class
  8. Echinoidea
    common name: Sea urchins rank: class
  9. Elasmobranchii
    common name: Sharks/Rays/Skates/etc. rank: class
  10. Gastropoda
    common name: snails rank: class
  11. Gephyrea
    common name: non-annulated worms rank: class
  12. Gymnolaemata
    common name: Bryozoans rank: class
  13. Hexactinellida
    common name: Hexactinellid sponges rank: class
  14. Hexanauplia
    common name: Copepods/Barnacles/etc. rank: class
  15. Holocephali
    common name: Chimaeras rank: class
  16. Holothuroidea
    common name: Sea cucumbers rank: class
  17. Hydrozoa
    common name: Hydrozoans rank: class
  18. Malacostraca
    common name: Crabs/Lobsters/Shrimp/Amphipods/Isopods/etc. rank: class
  19. Mammalia
    common name: Mammals rank: class
  20. Myxini
    common name: Hagfish rank: class
  21. Ophiuroidea
    common name: Brittlestars/Basketstars/etc. rank: class
  22. Petromyzonti
    common name: Lamprey rank: class
  23. Phaeophyceae
    common name: Brown Algae rank: class
  24. Polychaeta
    common name: Bristleworms/Polychaetes rank: class
  25. Polyplacophora
    common name: Chitons rank: class
  26. Pycnogonida
    common name: Sea Spiders rank: class
  27. Rhynchonellata
    common name: Brachiopods rank: class
  28. Scyphozoa
    common name: True jellies rank: class
  29. Sipunculidea
    common name: Stalked jellyfish rank: class
  30. Thaliacea
    common name: Tunicate rank: class
  31. Ulvophyceae
    common name: Green Algae rank: class
  32. Annelida
    common name: Segmented worms rank: phylum
  33. Arthropoda
    common name: Crustaceans rank: phylum
  34. Brachiopoda
    common name: Lampshells rank: phylum
  35. Bryozoa
    common name: Bryozoans rank: phylum
  36. Chordata
    common name: Chordates rank: phylum
  37. Ctenophora
    common name: Comb Jellies rank: phylum
  38. Mollusca
    common name: Molluscs rank: phylum
  39. Nematoda
    common name: Nematodes (round worms) rank: phylum
  40. Nemertea
    common name: Ribbon worms rank: phylum
  41. Porifera
    common name: Sponges rank: phylum
  42. Animalia
    common name: Animals rank: kingdom
  43. Plantae
    common name: Plants rank: kingdom

Geographic Coverages

Spring cruises focus on Georges Bank (i.e. 5Z).

Bibliographic Citations

Contacts

Catriona Regnier-McKellar
originator
position: Survey Biologist
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
email: Catriona.Regnier-McKellar@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Catriona Regnier-McKellar
metadata author
position: Survey Biologist
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
email: Catriona.Regnier-McKellar@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Catriona Regnier-McKellar
administrative point of contact
position: Survey Biologist
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
email: Catriona.Regnier-McKellar@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
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