Southern Gulf Snow Crab Trawl Survey with Biological and Environmental Parameters
Updated 3mo ago
7filesCSV
Available on 1 platform
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Description
Aggregating tow, catch, and biological information from an annual research vessel trawl survey for snow crab stock assessment in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The survey uses a stratified random design across 355 square grids, each 12.7 km by 12.7 km, covering depths from 20 to 200 fathoms. Data includes snow crab sex, carapace width, claw height, shell condition, and environmental parameters like GPS coordinates, depth, and temperature.
Use Cases
Model snow crab population size structure by analyzing the distribution of carapace width and sex across the 355 survey grids.
Assess shell condition and gonad colour data to study snow crab reproductive health and molting cycles.
Correlate catch data with environmental parameters like depth and temperature from CTD profiles to model habitat suitability.
Analyze swept area and GPS coordinates to standardize catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) metrics for stock assessment.
Strengths
Survey design is explicitly detailed, using a stratified random approach across 355 defined spatial grids.
Biological parameters for snow crab are specific, including sex, carapace width, claw height, and shell condition.
Environmental context is captured with parameters like GPS coordinates, depth, temperature, and CTD profiles.
Limitations
Sample data and specific row/column counts are unavailable, limiting preliminary assessment of dataset scale and structure.
For other species, only counts and weights are recorded, lacking detailed biological measurements.
Use is encouraged to contact the data custodian, which may indicate access restrictions or complexity in interpretation.
Provenance
Source
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Collection Method
Annual research vessel trawl survey using a Bigouden Nephrops bottom trawl net, with samples sorted and measured on board.
Time Range
Annual survey; specific years not stated.
Freshness
Data was last updated in March 2026, indicating recent maintenance.
Geography
Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, covering majority of snow crab habitat from 20 to 200 fathoms depth.
License is ca-ogl-lgo (Canada Open Government License); users are encouraged to contact the data custodian for appropriate use. Primary file formats are PDF and CSV.