State of physical, biological, and selected fishery resources of Pacific Canadian marine ecosystems in 2011

Summary

This report is the thirteenth in an annual series on the state of physical, biological, and selected fishery resources of Canadian Pacific marine ecosystems. The region supports important resident and migratory populations of invertebrates, groundfish and pelagic fishes, marine mammals and seabirds. Monitoring the physical and biological oceanographic conditions and fishery resources of the Pacific Region is done semi-regularly by scientific staff in several government departments, to understand the natural variability of these ecosystems and how they respond to both natural and anthropogenic stresses. Support for these programs is provided by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Environment Canada, Parks Canada and the Department of National Defence. Additional information is provided by the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), University of Victoria, and the University of British Columbia.

Information for this report was presented at the annual workshop of the Fisheries Oceanography Working Group (FOWG) at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, Nanaimo, BC, on February 15 to 16, 2012 chaired by Jim Irvine and Bill Crawford, both of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. They subsequently produced this summary report based on contributions by participants. Participants at the workshop are thanked for their contributions, especially those who contributed individual reports, and special thanks goes to Sarah Archibald for her hard work and attention to detail in helping to produce this report.

— Excerpt from the report