Commercial Catches of Capelin in the St. Lawrence, 1988 to Present

Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Quebec region collects biological data on commercially exploited species. This dataset on capelin (Mallotus villosus) includes sample weight, fish length, sex, and specimen counts from 1988 to the present. Data is collected at wharf or at sea by specialized DFO staff to support stock assessments in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Use Cases

• Analyze capelin population demography based on length and sex data.
• Study spatio-temporal trends in commercial catches based on the program's wide coverage.
• Model stock structure and size distribution using sample weight and specimen count data.

Strengths

• Covers a long temporal range from 1988 to the present.
• Provides biological data including length, sex, and weight for demographic analysis.
• Collected by specialized government staff (DFO) for official stock assessments.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data has been simplified and some entries excluded to protect confidentiality, which may affect granularity.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Sampling of commercial catches at wharf or at sea by DFO staff.

Time Range

1988 to present

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-24 09:09:04.899965; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Estuary and northern Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada