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.

Water temperature and water level are significant environmental factors affecting ecology of anadromous fish. Large-scale freshwater monitoring networks remain sparse, yet environmental protocols rely heavily on water temperature and water levels to assist decision making on river closures. Our river monitoring project in Newfoundland and Labrador provides river water temperature and river water level for salmon rivers across the province. 72 temperature loggers are deployed across 24 river systems in Newfoundland and Labrador. Temperature loggers are deployed in approximately 30 cm of water and remain in river year-round. Loggers consist of Onset level loggers, tidbit loggers, and pendants or Innovasea minilogs. Some loggers are deployed in duplicate at locations to provide data redundancy in event of equipment loss or failure. Equipment is monitored throughout the season to ensure proper placement in water columns, with downloads taking place during monitoring trips.

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.

Annual data are collected as part of smolt trapping operations using fish trapping methods. Traps collect emigrating salmon smolts to identify cohort bio-characteristics, run timing information, as well as enumerating migrating fish.

This data documents fish response to fish passage and instream habitat restoration treatments. Juvenile salmonid snorkel surveys are conducted pre-treatment and post-treatment. Pool dimensions (length and width), maximum residual pool depth, temperature, flow, and water quality data are also recorded. Minnow traps are deployed in the vicinity of restoration treatments when stream conditions or hazards prevent snorkel observations or where additional monitoring methods are deemed necessary to determine juvenile salmonid presence. Winter Salmonid spawner surveys of potential redds, adult spawners, and carcasses are also performed. Survey data includes a 0.038 MB Snorkel Survey database and a 0.043 MB Spawner Survey database. This data and metadata were submitted by California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Staff though the Data Management Plan (DMP) framework with the id: DMP000237. For more information, please visit https://wildlife.ca.gov/Data/Sci-Data.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) National Biofouling Monitoring Program (BMP) has conducted annual field surveys to monitor the introduction, establishment, spread, species richness, and relative abundance of native and non-indigenous species (NIS) since 2006. Standardized monitoring protocols employed by DFO-Maritimes, -Gulf, and -Quebec Regions include biofouling collector plates deployed from May to October at intertidal and shallow subtidal, geo-referenced sites, including public and private docks, aquaculture lease sites, public and private marinas and yacht clubs. Initially in the Maritimes Region (2006-2017) collectors consisted of 3, 10 cm by 10cm PVC plates deployed in a vertical array and spaced approximately 40-cm apart with the shallowest plate hung at least 1 m below the surface to sample shallow subtidal and intertidal species (Sephton et al. 2011, 2017). Two replicate arrays were deployed at least 5 m apart per site. Since 2018, collector arrays were modified to enhance statistical replication, including 10 individual collectors deployed per site at 1 m depth and at least 5 m apart (as above) from May to October. The percent cover of AIS on all collectors was determined by visual examination and scored as follows; (i) ‘0’ = absent, (ii) ‘1’ = ≤25 % cover, (iii) ‘2’ = 25 to ≤50 %, (iv) ‘3’ = 50–75% , and (v) ‘4’ = >75%. Average percent cover is provided for all NIS observed annually per site. Presence-absence indicates that an NIS was observed on at least one collector plate. One additional rocky intertidal species (Asian shore crab; Hemigrapsus sanguineus) was assessed via beach surveys as permitted by time and resources following its initial siting in St Mary’s Bay (Nova Scotia) in April 2020. Rapid assessment surveys conducted in the Fall of 2020 and 2021 were employed to delineate H. sanguineus’ distribution and relative abundance. Areas deemed suitable and at high risk for spread were targeted, including exposed rocky intertidal habitat in southwest regions of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Each rapid assessment consisted of 30-minute beach surveys per site conducted by 2 or 3 people (modified from Stephenson et al. 2011). During each survey, crabs were collected under rocks and seaweed in preferred cobble/boulder habitat (Lohrer et al. 2000). Count data was standardized for each site as the number of crabs collected per 30-min search per person. Cite as: DFO-Maritimes Biofouling Monitoring Program. Published October 2018, Updated December 2023. Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, NS Citations: Sephton D, B Vercaemer, JM Nicolas, J Keays (2011) Monitoring for invasive tunicates in Nova Scotia, Canada (2006-2009) Aquatic Invasions 6: 391-403. Sephton D, B Vercaemer, A Silva, L Stiles, M Harris, K Godin (2017) Biofouling monitoring for aquatic invasive species (AIS) in DFO Maritimes Regions (Atlantic shore of Nova Scotia and southwest New Brunswick): May-November, 2012-2015. Canadian Technical Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 3158: 72 pp. Stephenson EH, RS Steneck, RH Seeley (2009) Possible temperature limits to range expansion of non-native Asian shore crabs in Maine. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 375: 21–31. doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2009.04.020

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. In this record, surveys were conducted in continental slope waters at depths greater than 400 m out to the Gulf of Alaska, between 1995 and 2011. Periodically, there are tows from surveys conducted in other regions that occurred on the continental slope and they are included here. This set of data also includes data collected during the International Year of Salmon survey in 2022.

This data documents fish response to fish passage and instream habitat restoration treatments. Juvenile salmonid snorkel surveys are conducted pre-treatment and post-treatment. Pool dimensions (length and width), maximum residual pool depth, temperature, flow, and water quality data are also recorded. Minnow traps are deployed in the vicinity of restoration treatments when stream conditions or hazards prevent snorkel observations or where additional monitoring methods are deemed necessary to determine juvenile salmonid presence. Winter Salmonid spawner surveys of potential redds, adult spawners, and carcasses are also performed. Survey data includes a 0.038 MB Snorkel Survey database and a 0.043 MB Spawner Survey database. This data and metadata were submitted by California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Staff though the Data Management Plan (DMP) framework with the id: DMP000237. For more information, please visit https://wildlife.ca.gov/Data/Sci-Data.