Known concentration areas of the Atlantic surfclam in the Gulf of St. Lawrence

The dataset represents known concentration areas of harvested or unharvested Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, around the Magdalen Islands. The dataset was created for the National environmental emergencies center (NEEC) for preparation and response in case of an oil spill. Concentration areas were delineated using Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) inventories conducted between 2000 and 2020, commercial fisheries data (logbooks and purchase receipts from 2002 to 2020 and observations at sea from 2005 to 2017), data from exploratory fisheries as well as interviews. This layer is dependent on the inventories carried out and thus only represents the known areas of the Atlantic surfclam. This dataset 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 concentration areas were delimited based on…

Publisher

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Resources

4

Catalogue metadata updated

2026-03-24