Great Lakes Invasive Fish Surveillance Data

Fish community and habitat data from early detection surveillance efforts in Canadian Great Lakes waters. The dataset includes sampling site location, date, fish species and counts, and associated habitat information. Annual project-specific details are often reported in the DFO Canadian manuscript report series.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal trends in fish species counts to monitor invasive species spread over time.
• Map sampling site locations to identify geographic hotspots for invasive fish presence.
• Correlate fish species data with associated habitat information to model invasive species habitat preferences.

Strengths

• Data originates from Fisheries and Oceans Canada's official surveillance program.
• Includes multiple data types: species counts, habitat information, and temporal records.

Limitations

• The total number of records (rows) and specific data fields (columns) are unknown.
• Data is provided in ESRI REST format, which may require specialized GIS software for analysis.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Compilation of data from the Aquatic Invasive Species and Invasive Carp Program early detection surveillance.

Freshness

Last updated March 2026.

Geography

Canadian waters of the Great Lakes basin.