Lake Ontario 2023 ESI: Fish Distribution and Spawning Areas

Lake Ontario's U.S. waters, including islands and major bays, are covered by this 2023 Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) dataset. It contains vector polygons and points representing freshwater fish distribution, concentration areas, and spawning areas. The data, produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is designed to characterize sensitivity to oil spills.

Use Cases

• Modeling oil spill impact zones based on fish distribution and concentration areas.
• Mapping critical spawning habitats for conservation planning based on point and polygon data.
• Integrating species-specific life history and seasonality data for population studies.
• Assessing environmental sensitivity for coastal resource management in the Great Lakes.

Strengths

• Includes both polygon (distribution/concentration) and point (spawning) vector data formats.
• Covers a defined study area including 13 named islands and 12 major bays in Lake Ontario.
• Associated data tables store species-specific attributes like abundance and seasonality.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is specific to the U.S. portion of Lake Ontario, not the entire lake.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) data characterization for coastal and marine environments.

Time Range

2023

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 22:33:19.984798; freshness should be verified.

Geography

United States portion of Lake Ontario, including specific islands and bays in New York.