Sponge and Coral Aggregation Polygons from Eastern Arctic Research Vessel Surveys

Polygons identifying concentrations of sea pens, gorgonian corals, and sponges were created through spatial analysis of research vessel by-catch data from the east coast of Canada. The analysis, following a Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization approach, used kernel density and catch weight thresholds across five biogeographic zones. The dataset, provided by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, includes latitude and longitude for all tows forming dense aggregations and those capturing black coral.

Use Cases

• Modeling vulnerable marine ecosystem (VME) distributions based on identified sponge and coral aggregations.
• Assessing fishing pressure impacts on long-lived, non-aggregating taxa like black coral based on provided tow positions.
• Comparing benthic community structures across the five biogeographic zones of eastern Canada mentioned in the description.
• Identifying sponge ground habitats using the 40 kg minimum catch threshold for Campelen gear data.

Strengths

• Analysis performed for each of the five biogeographic zones of eastern Canada, providing regional specificity.
• Includes tow positions for both dense aggregations and non-aggregating, vulnerable taxa like black coral.
• Uses a defined 40 kg minimum catch threshold to separate sponge ground habitat from broader distribution.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and spatial dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Spatial analysis (kernel density, catch weight thresholds) of research vessel survey by-catch data using Campelen trawl gear.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-24 09:05:24.813760; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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