Known concentration areas of Arctic wedge clam in the Estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence

The dataset represents known concentration areas of harvested or unharvested Arctic wedge clam (Mesodesma arctatum) in the Estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Quebec region. The dataset was created for the National Environmental Emergencies Centre (NEEC) for preparation and response purposes in case of an oil spill. Concentration areas were delimited using Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) inventories conducted between 2000 and 2020 and data from various DFO research projects. For more information on how the data layer was built, see the metadata included in its shapefile (.shp), particularly the “Lineage” section. This layer is dependent on the inventories carried out and thus only represents the known concentration areas of the Arctic wedge clam. It does not represent the general distribution of the species nor the extent to which fishing is allowed. Most of the information comes from inventories that did not necessarily target this species, therefore its distribution is undoubtedly wider than what is recorded in this layer. In addition, the extent of shellfish beds can change over time in response to, among others, harvesting and recruitment rates. Some beds were mapped…

Publisher

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Resources

4

Catalogue metadata updated

2026-03-24