Maritimes Fisheries Catch Weight Landings Mapping 2019-2023

Maritimes region datasets show commercial fisheries catch weight landings from the Scotian Shelf, Bay of Fundy, and Georges Bank. Five-year composite maps from 2019–2023 aggregate catch weight per 10 km² hexagon for 40 species, species groups, and gear types. The data supports coastal management, marine spatial planning, and ecological risk assessment.

Use Cases

• Map catch weight per 10 km² hexagon for species like Atlantic Cod or Snow Crab to identify high-density fishing zones.
• Analyze seasonal catch patterns using seasonal composites for Groundfish and Scallop to inform temporal fishery management.
• Compare catch weight distributions across gear types such as Groundfish Bottom Trawl and Purse Seine for gear impact studies.
• Support Marine Protected Area network planning by overlaying aggregated catch maps for species groupings like Flatfish or Redfish.

Strengths

• Five-year temporal coverage from 2019 to 2023 provides a multi-year perspective on fishery landings.
• Data covers 40 distinct species, species groupings, and gear types, including Groundfish, Tuna, and Crab.
• Spatial aggregation to a 10 km² hexagon grid standardizes geographic analysis across the Maritimes region.
• Public availability through multiple formats (CSV, SHP, FGDB) facilitates access for different analytical tools.

Limitations

• Reported catch locations may have rounded coordinates or contain uncorrected errors, affecting spatial precision.
• Data has been filtered to protect privacy, withholding catch from unit areas with fewer than five vessel, licence, or fisher IDs, potentially creating spatial gaps.
• The dataset's row count and specific column structure are unknown, limiting pre-download assessment of analytical scope.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Aggregated commercial fisheries catch reports, filtered for privacy compliance.

Time Range

2019–2023

Freshness

Data current through 2023, with platform metadata updated March 2026.

Geography

Scotian Shelf, Bay of Fundy, Georges Bank (NAFO Divisions 4VWX and Canadian portions of 5Y, 5Z)