Fisheries and Oceans Canada requires operators of active marine finfish aquaculture sites in British Columbia to monitor for benthic (seabed) impacts. The benthic monitoring program is designed to limit the location, area, and intensity of impact created by fish farms to the seabed and to support sustainable aquaculture by maintaining healthy ecosystems. In addition to the monitoring and reporting required of licence holders, DFO staff biologists conduct field audits to collect and assess sediment samples and take video of the seafloor. This information is used to determine compliance and learn more about benthic impacts during different times of the production cycle. Further review and action may be required for sites with poor environmental performance or issues with non-compliance. For the results of benthic monitoring activities conducted by the industry, see [Results of industry benthic monitoring of BC marine finfish aquaculture sites](http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/7e76fdc8-c36a-491a-9afb-4f9280c929e8 "Results of industry benthic monitoring of BC marine finfish aquaculture sites"). Related links: + Infographic: [Monitoring benthic impacts at BC aquaculture sites](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/about-notre-sujet/publications/infographics-infographies/benthic-benthique-eng.html) + Graph: [Benthic performance at marine finfish aquaculture sites in BC](http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/reporting-rapports/benth/index-eng.html)

For health auditing purposes, a farm is considered active once three pens of fish have been present for 30 days, following entry of the first pen of fish at the farm. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) applies a computerized selection system to randomly select active salmon farms within the fish health zones of the British Columbia. coast. All farms within a zone are assigned a random number and a computer selection of the farms within that zone is weighted (based on the fish species and the number of “active farms” operating in that zone as a percentage of the total number of active farms in the province). In other words, if a zone contains 30 percent of the farms then 30 percent of the farms selected for audit would be randomly chosen from that area. This ensures equal probability of each farm being selected for sampling. To ensure confidence in the sample results, Fisheries and Oceans Canada endeavours to conduct fish health audits at 30 active farmsites per quarter, or approximately 120 each year. Farm audits are conducted in conjunction with the farm’s regularly scheduled carcass collection, allowing Fisheries and Oceans Canada staff access to the freshest of the dead fish. This approach of targeted disease sampling on recently dead fish increases the likelihood of DFO veterinarians finding disease, if present, and attributing an accurate “cause-of-death” diagnosis to each carcass gathered. The summary tables are updated quarterly to reflect Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s fish health monitoring activities. For the purpose of fish health monitoring, a site is considered “active” if the facility holds any salmonid for at least 30 days, and has a minimum of three fully stocked pens during the quarter in which sampling is to occur.

This report provides a summary of fish health events reported by aquaculture companies to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). A fish health event is any suspected or active disease that occurs within an aquaculture facility that requires the involvement of a veterinarian and warrants mitigation measures (e.g., treatment, quarantine, reduction in density). As a condition of licence, company veterinarians must notify DFO within seven days of any fish health event on a farm and provide a preliminary or confirmed farm-level diagnosis as well as details on any sampling, monitoring or mitigation measures planned or performed. Historical data are available from 2016 to the present. Prior to this time, fish health event reporting was not required by conditions of licence. The terminology used in the report’s column headings is defined in the terminology file below. Related links: + Infographic: [Monitoring fish health from hatchery to harvest](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/about-notre-sujet/publications/infographics-infographies/hatchery-ecloserie-eng.html) + Infographic: [How DFO inspects fish health at BC aquaculture sites](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/about-notre-sujet/publications/infographics-infographies/health-sante-eng.html)

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO’s) conditions of licence for marine finfish aquaculture contain monitoring and intervention requirements to minimize the potential exposure of wild and farmed fish to sea lice. Licence holders must submit a Health Management Plan to DFO that includes sea lice management. The results of industry’s sea lice assessments of Atlantic salmon are provided to DFO monthly and posted to this website quarterly. DFO biologists and veterinarians conduct regular assessments throughout the year to verify the accuracy of licence holders’ procedures and reporting. The DFO Sea Lice Audit Report shows the results of DFO’s random quarterly lice audits, which coincide with one of the licence holder's numerous scheduled counts. To assure quality, farm staff count lice on 50 per cent of the selected fish and DFO staff count lice on the other half. Related links: + Infographic: [Sea lice management at BC salmon farms]( https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/about-notre-sujet/publications/infographics-infographies/lice-pou-eng.html)

Fisheries and Oceans Canada requires operators of active marine finfish aquaculture sites in British Columbia to monitor for benthic (seabed) impacts. The benthic monitoring program is designed to limit the location, area and intensity of impact created by fish farms to the seabed and to support sustainable aquaculture by maintaining healthy ecosystems. All operational sites must be monitored at peak production, when the greatest environmental impact is most likely to occur. If the thresholds outlined in Aquaculture Activities Regulations are exceeded, the site must be fallowed (left empty) until further monitoring shows the seabed has sufficiently recovered. Fisheries and Oceans Canada assesses industry reports and video data for compliance and uses the data to better understand benthic impacts. See [Results of DFO benthic monitoring audits of BC marine finfish aquaculture sites](http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/c1a54a0c-4eb0-4b50-be1f-01aee632527e "Results of DFO benthic monitoring audits of BC marine finfish aquaculture sites"). Related links: + Infographic: [Monitoring benthic impacts at BC aquaculture sites](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/about-notre-sujet/publications/infographics-infographies/benthic-benthique-eng.html) + Graph: [Benthic performance at marine finfish aquaculture sites in BC](http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/reporting-rapports/benth/index-eng.html)

Fisheries and Oceans Canada's (DFO’s) Atlantic Salmon Watch Program (ASWP) was established in 1991 to study the abundance, distribution and biology of Atlantic salmon in British Columbia and its adjacent waters. The ASWP relies on voluntary reports from Indigenous, recreational and commercial fishers, processors, field biologists and hatchery workers. If you capture or observe an Atlantic salmon in BC waters, please keep the carcass and call the toll-free reporting line at 1-800-811-6010 or email [aswp@dfo-mpo.gc.ca](mailto:aswp@dfo-mpo.gc.ca "aswp@dfo-mpo.gc.ca"). Donation is not mandatory but it provides valuable samples for our scientific study. AWSP staff follow up on reports and verify them either through the use of photographs or biological samples where available. A summary of reports made to the ASWP since July 2005 can be found below. DFO also publishes [reports on escapes](https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/691dd994-4911-433d-b3b6-00349ba9f24e "reports on escapes") of marine finfish (of any species) from aquaculture sites in BC.

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. Since 2016, these surveys have been broadened to monitor the whole pelagic ecosystem, retaining a focus on juvenile Pacific Salmon. Surveys have been conducted on the continental shelf of north and west Vancouver Island, included associated sounds and inlets since 1992 and are ongoing. These data are for tows conducted in the continental shelf area for depths shallower than 400 meters.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), in partnership with other government organizations, indigenous groups, and community stakeholders, monitor the migratory return of Atlantic salmon to rivers each season. In Newfoundland and Labrador, there are 15 management areas, known as Salmon Fishing Areas (SFAs), with over 400 rivers containing populations of spawning salmon. Each year, salmon populations are enumerated at monitoring facilities (counting fences or fishways) on several rivers throughout the province. Monitoring begins in April or May for the downstream smolt run and in June or July for the upstream adult run and varies in timing by year and river. Not all rivers are monitored annually and years with incomplete data are often attributable to environmental factors that delay or stop monitoring during a season (e.g. fence washout due to elevated water levels). Days with zero counts can be attributable to no fish and/or closures to the monitoring facility. While monitoring facilities are used primarily to count Atlantic salmon, other freshwater fish may also be enumerated if encountered. The counts from these monitoring facilities, in addition to angling information and other monitoring activities, provide information for estimating returns for the annual stock assessment, which is an important part of conservation and management of Atlantic salmon populations in Newfoundland and Labrador. This data contains information for Atlantic salmon only.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) conducts an annual multidisciplinary scientific survey with a bottom trawl in the Estuary and the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence since 1978. Over the years this survey has been conducted on five vessels: the MV Gadus Atlantica (1978-1994), the MV Lady Hammond (1984-1990), the CCGS Alfred Needler (1990-2005), the CCGS Teleost (2004-2022) and the CCGS Cabot (2022-current). It is important to note that the objectives, the methods used and the identification of the species during these surveys have improved over time in response to DFO requests and mandates. The data are therefore not directly comparable between these surveys. The specificities of the missions onboard the CCGS Cabot are described below. Objectives: 1. Assess groundfish and northern shrimp population abundance and condition 2. Assess environmental conditions 3. Inventory species biodiversity 4. Assess phytoplankton and mesozooplankton abundance 5. Monitor the pelagic ecosystem 6. Inventory marine mammals populations 7. Inventory seabirds populations 8. Collect samples for various research projects Survey description The survey covers the Estuary and the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence, that is the divisions 4R, 4S and the northern part of division 4T of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO). Since 2008, coverage of division 4T has been increased in the upstream part of the Lower Estuary. A stratified random sampling strategy is used for this survey and the area of the study area is 118,587 km². The fishing gear used on the CCGS Cabot is a four-sided Campelen 1800 shrimp trawl equipped with a Rockhopper footgear (“bicycle”). The trawl lengthening and codend are equipped with a 12.7-mm knotless nylon lining. Standard trawling tows last 15 minutes, starting from the time the trawl touches the sea floor. The aimed towing speed is 3 knots. Data For each fishing tow, the catch is sorted and weighed by taxa; individual are then count and biological data are then collected on a subsample. For fish, crab and squid, size and weight are gathered by individual and, for some species, sex, gonad maturity, and the weight of certain organs (stomach, liver, gonads) are also evaluated. The soft rays of the anal fin are counted for redfish, and the otoliths are sampled for several species such as Atlantic cod, Atlantic halibut, and witch flounder. A roughly 2-kg shrimp sample is sorted and weighed by species (and by stage of maturity for northern shrimp). The shrimps are measured individually. The other invertebrates are counted (no individual measurements) and photographed. The catches per tow for fish taxa are available below. The latest published data is preliminary and will be updated in January of the following year. This data is also available via the 'Biodiversity' application on the St. Lawrence Global Observatory (SLGO). For more information please contact the data management team (gddaiss-dmsaisb@dfo-mpo.gc.ca).

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO’s) Conditions of Licence for finfish aquaculture include requirements to minimize harm to wild fish that swim into facilities. Facility operators must also maintain an incidental catch log, which is a record of wild fish caught at the facility during harvest and transfer events. This information is submitted to DFO and public reports are posted quarterly. The tables provided list the reported incidental catch of dead wild finfish and the year and month in which they were captured from B.C. marine finfish facilities during harvest and transfer events. Data are reported in the quarter in which the harvest activities ended and will not exist for farms that do not have fish on site or where no incidentally caught fish were recorded.