Historic Fish Catch and Weight-Length Data from Fraser River Estuary, 1980-1981

A 1980-1981 biological sampling program by Fisheries and Oceans Canada collected data on nearshore fish populations and water quality on Sturgeon and Roberts Banks in the Fraser River estuary. The dataset amalgamates three data sets: fish catch, water quality, and unpublished weight-length data for seven species. Weight-length data were reconstructed from archived computer printouts using Optical Character Recognition methods.

Use Cases

• Analyzing differences in fish community structure based on habitat characteristics described for Sturgeon and Roberts Banks
• Modeling weight-length relationships for seven fish species using the reconstructed condition factor data
• Comparing the influence of freshwater input and potential pollution on fish populations between sampling areas
• Assessing historic biodiversity and abundance in a high vessel traffic estuary environment

Strengths

• Data spans a defined 1980-1981 sampling period providing a historic baseline
• Includes three integrated data sets: water quality, fish catch, and weight-length measurements
• Weight-length data covers seven fish species for condition factor analysis

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Data may reflect temporal bias inherent to a 40+ year old sampling program

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Field sampling program and subsequent data reconstruction from archived printouts using OCR

Time Range

1980-1981

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-24 09:06:52.948438; freshness should be verified

Geography

Sturgeon and Roberts Banks, Fraser River Estuary, British Columbia, Canada