Incidental Wild Fish Catch at British Columbia Aquaculture Sites

Quarterly reports detail the incidental catch of dead wild finfish at marine finfish aquaculture facilities in British Columbia during harvest and transfer events. The data is submitted by facility operators to Fisheries and Oceans Canada as a condition of their license to minimize harm to wild fish. Public reports are posted quarterly, providing a record of wild fish interactions with aquaculture operations.

Use Cases

• Analyze trends in incidental catch counts by year and month to assess seasonal impacts on wild fish populations.
• Monitor compliance with license conditions by tracking reported catch events across different aquaculture facilities.
• Investigate the relationship between aquaculture harvest/transfer activities and recorded incidental catch of wild finfish.

Strengths

• Data is collected as a mandatory condition of license for aquaculture operators, ensuring systematic reporting.
• Reports are published quarterly by a federal government agency (Fisheries and Oceans Canada), providing regular updates.
• Focuses on a specific environmental monitoring issue (incidental catch) within a defined geography (British Columbia marine sites).

Limitations

• The dataset only includes reported incidental catches of dead wild finfish, potentially omitting live releases or unreported events.
• Data availability is contingent on farms having fish on site and recording incidental catches, leading to possible gaps.
• Specific data structure details like row count, column names, and sample size are not provided in the input.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Collected from mandatory incidental catch logs submitted by licensed finfish aquaculture facility operators.

Time Range

Data is reported quarterly; specific start date not provided.

Freshness

Updated quarterly; last platform update was March 24, 2026.

Geography

British Columbia, Canada (marine finfish aquaculture sites).