Maritimes Coastal Biodiversity Monitoring via Beach Seining

The Maritimes Coastal Biodiversity Monitoring Program provides data on fish and invertebrate diversity within eelgrass beds from the Eastern Shore Islands of Nova Scotia. It was published by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in December 2023 to establish a baseline for long-term monitoring in Marine Protected Areas. The dataset includes inventories of eelgrass bed locations and fish length distribution data for analyzing seasonal and inter-annual trends.

Use Cases

• Analyze fish and invertebrate diversity within eelgrass beds to establish biodiversity baselines for Marine Protected Areas.
• Examine fish length distribution data to identify seasonal and inter-annual trends in population size structure.
• Compare species detections from eelgrass bed inventories against environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling results to validate monitoring methods.
• Map eelgrass bed locations to assess habitat distribution and its correlation with fish community structure.

Strengths

• Data supports long-term monitoring for Marine Protected Area (MPA) management, a key conservation objective.
• Includes multiple sampling methods such as beach seines, scuba diving, and environmental DNA (eDNA) for cross-validation.
• Published by the authoritative government agency Fisheries and Oceans Canada in December 2023.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, column details, and sample data are unavailable, limiting preliminary assessment of dataset scale and structure.
• The dataset focuses on the Eastern Shore Islands of Nova Scotia, which may limit geographic generalizability.
• Relies on baseline data collection started in 2017, so long-term temporal trends may not yet be fully established.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Maritimes region.

Collection Method

Direct sampling via beach seines and scuba diving, and indirect sampling via environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding.

Time Range

Monitoring began in 2017; data published December 2023.

Freshness

Last updated March 2026, indicating ongoing maintenance.

Geography

Eastern Shore Islands and other coastal Areas of Interest in Nova Scotia, Canada.