DFO Pacific Groundfish Synoptic Trawl Surveys - Strait of Georgia

The Strait of Georgia (SOG) synoptic bottom trawl survey was conducted in 2012 and 2015. This survey is one of a set of long-term and coordinated surveys that together cover the continental shelf and upper slope of most of the British Columbia coast. The other surveys are the Queen Charlotte Sound (QCS) survey, the Hecate Strait (HS) survey, the West Coast Vancouver Island (WCVI) survey and the West Coast Haida Gwaii (WCHG) survey. The objectives of these surveys are to provide fishery independent abundance indices of all demersal fish species available to bottom trawling and to collect biological samples of selected species. The surveys follow a random depth-stratified design and the sampling units are 2 km by 2 km blocks.

The synoptic bottom trawl surveys are conducted by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) in collaboration with the Canadian Groundfish Research and Conservation Society (CGRCS), a non-profit society composed of participants in the British Columbia commercial groundfish trawl fishery. The Queen Charlotte Sound and West Coast Haida Gwaii surveys are conducted under collaborative agreements, with the CGRCS providing chartered commercial fishing vessels and field technicians, while DFO provides in-kind contributions for running the surveys including personnel and equipment. The Hecate Strait, West Coast Vancouver Island, and Strait of Georgia surveys are conducted by DFO and usually take place on Canadian Coast Guard research vessels. In years when a research vessel has not been available, the Hecate Strait and West Coast Vancouver Island surveys have taken place on chartered industry vessels.

The data provided include information about the annual survey trips and fishing events (tows/sets) that are part of this survey series, including the vessel name, dates, times, spatial coverage, gear details, effort, and catch information (total weight in kg or counts of individual specimens). Catches are identified to species or to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Most catches are weighed, but some are too small (“trace” amounts) or too large (e.g. very large Big Skate). Some catches were subsampled and biological data were collected from individual fish specimens, which may include length, sex, weight, and diet. Where age structures were collected and processed, fish ages have been included.

This dataset is available in an alternate format on the Government of Canada Open Government Portal: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/a278d1af-d567-4964-a109-ae1e84cbd24a.

Citation: Cornthwaite M (2026). DFO Pacific Groundfish Synoptic Trawl Surveys - Strait of Georgia. Version 3.2. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Samplingevent dataset. https://doi.org/10.25607/t044ig

Published: July 06, 2026 at 22:46

First registration: March 31, 2021 at 22:55

License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License

URL: http://ipt.iobis.org/obiscanada/resource?r=sog