Lake Erie Fish Distribution and Spawning Areas for Oil Spill Sensitivity

Vector polygons and points representing fish distribution, concentration, and spawning areas for the United States portion of Lake Erie. The data characterize freshwater fish species by their sensitivity to spilled oil and include associated tables for species-specific abundance, seasonality, and life history. It is part of the 2022 Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) data produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Modeling oil spill sensitivity and impact zones based on fish distribution polygons.
• Analyzing seasonal habitat use for conservation planning based on stored seasonality information.
• Mapping critical spawning grounds for protection based on point and polygon data.
• Assessing species abundance and status for population studies based on associated attribute tables.

Strengths

• Data includes both polygon features for distribution and point features for spawning areas.
• Associated tables provide species-specific attributes like abundance, seasonality, and life history.
• Spatial coverage is defined as the U.S. portion of Lake Erie, covering coastal areas of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is delivered in PDF format, which may complicate direct geospatial analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) data collection for characterizing sensitivity to oil spills.

Time Range

2022

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:32:08.856743; freshness should be verified.

Geography

United States portion of Lake Erie, covering coastal portions of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.