Sea Pen Field Locations from Eastern Arctic Campelen Trawl Surveys

Polygons identifying concentrations of sea pens, gorgonian corals, and sponges derived from research vessel by-catch data in eastern Canada. The data was produced by Fisheries and Oceans Canada using kernel density analysis on survey data from the Eastern Arctic biogeographic zone. The dataset was last updated on 2026-05-12.

Use Cases

• Map vulnerable marine ecosystems based on identified sea pen and coral aggregations.
• Analyze the spatial relationship between different benthic taxa (e.g., sea pens vs. Geodia sponges) across biogeographic zones.
• Model fishing impact zones using the provided tow positions for aggregating and non-aggregating (e.g., black coral) species.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a defined analytical method (kernel density analysis) used by an international fisheries organization (NAFO).
• Covers five distinct biogeographic zones of eastern Canada, allowing for regional comparison.
• Includes specific location data (latitude/longitude) for all research vessel tows that captured target species.

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 geographic and methodological bias inherent to the Campelen trawl gear and specific survey areas.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Spatial analysis of research vessel survey by-catch data using kernel density and catch weight thresholds.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-12 13:32:51.937840; freshness should be verified.

Geography

East coast of Canada, specifically the Eastern Arctic biogeographic zone, Laurentian Channel, Gulf of St. Lawrence, northern Labrador slope, and Scotian Shelf.