Great Lakes St. Marys River Fish Distribution and Spawning Areas for Oil Spill Sensitivity

2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration characterizes fish species in the St. Marys River system for oil spill sensitivity. The dataset contains vector polygons and points representing fish distribution and spawning areas, with associated tables for species abundance, seasonality, and life history. It is part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) data for the Great Lakes St. Marys River System.

Use Cases

• Modeling oil spill impact zones based on fish distribution polygons and points.
• Assessing seasonal species vulnerability based on stored seasonality and life history information.
• Planning coastal resource management based on sensitive biological resource data for freshwater and anadromous fish.
• Integrating biological sensitivity data with shoreline habitat and human-use layers for comprehensive environmental analysis.

Strengths

• Data is part of a standardized Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) framework for oil spill response.
• Includes associated tables with species-specific attributes like abundance and seasonality.
• Spatial coverage is defined from just east of Monocle Lake to the headwaters of Lake Huron.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Likely collected and compiled for environmental sensitivity mapping.

Time Range

2021

Freshness

Last updated 2026 03 13 22:33:09.848929; freshness should be verified.

Geography

St. Marys River system at the southern portion of Lake Superior to the headwaters of Lake Huron.