Collections of age estimation structures from marine taxa in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence

PURPOSE:

Support age-structured population stock assessments and research on fish growth.

DESCRIPTION:

Fish otoliths are collected from scientific surveys, fisheries observers on fishing vessels and from scientific sampling of commercial fisheries. The otoliths collected are placed in paper envelopes, recorded and held in a climate-controlled storage facility. Age determination is performed yearly on available samples. Digital images of each pair of otoliths collected are captured when possible.

The information made available through this metadata record is the summary of otoliths present in the collection at the Gulf Fisheries Centre in Moncton, NB, Canada. The number of otoliths available from different sources by year and month is provided for the following stocks:

• Atlantic Cod NAFO Divisions 4T / 4VN (Nov. to Apr.)

• White Hake NAFO Division 4T

• American Plaice NAFO Division 4T

• Winter Flounder NAFO Division 4T

• Yellowtail Flounder NAFO Division 4T

• Witch Flounder NAFO Divisions 4RST

• Skate species NAFO Division 4T

There is additional information of observed sex, length, weight and age information of fish specimens made by trained Fisheries and Oceans Canada technicians that can be made available upon request.

PARAMETERS COLLECTED:

length (biological), age (biological)

NOTES ON QUALITY CONTROL:

Reference collections for certain species exist and are used to train technicians and to calibrate the age readings obtained by the fisheries technicians that use the otoliths for age estimation. Digital images of the otoliths that are part of the reference collection are available and used for calibration and training purposes. The otolith images are also authoritatively annotated by fisheries technicians.

PHYSICAL SAMPLE DETAILS:

Fish otoliths, skate vertebrae

SAMPLING METHODS:

Marine fish otoliths are obtained from fish specimens collected during research surveys and during scientific sampling of commercial fisheries. The sagittal otoliths are removed from sampled specimens, recorded, placed in a protective medium and held in a climate-controlled storage facility. Digital images of each pair of otoliths collected are captured when possible.

USE LIMITATION:

To ensure scientific integrity and appropriate use of the data, we would encourage you to contact the data custodian.

Datasets available for download

• NAFO 4T age estimation structures datasetCSV
  To Download

  • More information
  • Go to resource
• Data dictionaryCSV
  To Download

  • More information
  • Go to resource

• Amblyraja radiata
• Fish
• Fisheries resources
• Gadus morhua
• Glyptocephalus cynoglossus
• Gulf of St. Lawrence
• Hippoglossoides...
• Leucoraja ocellata
• Limanda ferruginea
• Nature and Environment
• Pseudopleuronectes...
• Science and Technology
• Trawl
• Urophycis tenuis

Additional Info

• Maturity Level 1 (54%)
• Maturity Level 2 (38%)
• Maturity Level 3 (0%)
• Maturity Level 4 (0%)
• Maturity Level 5 (0%)
• Maturity Level 6 (0%)

Field	Value
Last Updated	October 20, 2025, 02:37 (UTC)
Created	October 20, 2025, 02:37 (UTC)
Domain / Topic Domain or topic of the dataset being cataloged.	Biota
Title Title for the Dataset.	Collections of age estimation structures from marine taxa in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence
Description A description of the dataset.	PURPOSE: Support age-structured population stock assessments and research on fish growth. DESCRIPTION: Fish otoliths are collected from scientific surveys, fisheries observers on fishing vessels and from scientific sampling of commercial fisheries. The otoliths collected are placed in paper envelopes, recorded and held in a climate-controlled storage facility. Age determination is performed yearly on available samples. Digital images of each pair of otoliths collected are captured when possible. The information made available through this metadata record is the summary of otoliths present in the collection at the Gulf Fisheries Centre in Moncton, NB, Canada. The number of otoliths available from different sources by year and month is provided for the following stocks: Atlantic Cod NAFO Divisions 4T / 4VN (Nov. to Apr.) White Hake NAFO Division 4T American Plaice NAFO Division 4T Winter Flounder NAFO Division 4T Yellowtail Flounder NAFO Division 4T Witch Flounder NAFO Divisions 4RST Skate species NAFO Division 4T There is additional information of observed sex, length, weight and age information of fish specimens made by trained Fisheries and Oceans Canada technicians that can be made available upon request. PARAMETERS COLLECTED: length (biological), age (biological) NOTES ON QUALITY CONTROL: Reference collections for certain species exist and are used to train technicians and to calibrate the age readings obtained by the fisheries technicians that use the otoliths for age estimation. Digital images of the otoliths that are part of the reference collection are available and used for calibration and training purposes. The otolith images are also authoritatively annotated by fisheries technicians. PHYSICAL SAMPLE DETAILS: Fish otoliths, skate vertebrae SAMPLING METHODS: Marine fish otoliths are obtained from fish specimens collected during research surveys and during scientific sampling of commercial fisheries. The sagittal otoliths are removed from sampled specimens, recorded, placed in a protective medium and held in a climate-controlled storage facility. Digital images of each pair of otoliths collected are captured when possible. USE LIMITATION: To ensure scientific integrity and appropriate use of the data, we would encourage you to contact the data custodian.
Tags / Keywords Keywords/tags categorizing the dataset.	Amblyraja radiata Fish Fisheries resources Gadus morhua Glyptocephalus cynoglossus Gulf of St. Lawrence Hippoglossoides... Leucoraja ocellata Limanda ferruginea Nature and Environment Pseudopleuronectes... Science and Technology Trawl Urophycis tenuis
Format (CSV, XLS, TXT, PDF, etc) File format of the dataset.
Dataset Size Dataset size in megabytes.
Metadata Identifier Metadata identifier – can be used as the unique identifier for catalogue entry
Published Date Published date of the dataset.	2025-03-21
Time Period Data Span (start date) Start date of the data in the dataset.
Time Period Data Span (end date) End date of time data in the dataset.
GeoSpatial Area Data Span A spatial region or named place the dataset covers.

Field	Value
Access category Type of access granted for the dataset (open, closed, service, etc).
License License used to access the dataset.	Open Government Licence - Canada
Limits on use Limits on use of data.
Location Location of the dataset.	https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/98913402-688c-1615-9895-ec96b214be5a
Data Service Data service for accessing a dataset.
Owner Owner of the dataset.	Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada
Contact Point Who to contact regarding access?	Government of Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 506-378-0474, [email protected]
Contact Point Email The email to contact regarding access?
Publisher Publisher of the dataset.
Publisher Email Email of the publisher.	[email protected]
Author Author of the dataset.
Author Email Email of the author.
Accessed At Date the data and metadata was accessed.

Field	Value
Identifier Unique identifier for the dataset.
Language Language(s) of the dataset
Link to dataset description A URL to an external document describing the dataset.
Persistent Identifier Data is identified by a persistent identifier.
Globally Unique Identifier Data is identified by a persistent and globally unique identifier.
Contains data about individuals Does the data hold data about individuals?
Contains data about identifiable individuals Does the data hold identifiable data about individual?
Contains Indigenous Data Does the data hold data about Indigenous communities?
Portal Type Platform type of the source portal.

Field	Value
Version Version of the datatset	None
Source Source of the dataset.	None
Version notes Version notes about the dataset.
Is version of another dataset Link to dataset that it is a version of.
Other versions Link to datasets that are versions of it.
Provenance Text Provenance Text of the data.
Provenance URL Provenance URL of the data.
Temporal resolution Describes how granular the date/time data in the dataset is.
GeoSpatial resolution in meters Describes how granular (in meters) geospatial data is in the dataset.
GeoSpatial resolution (in regions) Describes how granular (in regions) geospatial data is in the dataset.

Field	Value
Indigenous Community Permission Who holds the Indigenous Community Permission. Who to contact regarding access to a dataset that has data about Indigenous communities.
Community Permission Community permission (who gave permission).
The Indigenous communities the dataset is about Indigenous communities from which data is derived.

Field	Value
Number of data rows If tabular dataset, total number of rows.
Number of data columns If tabular dataset, total number of unique columns.
Number of data cells If tabular dataset, total number of cells with data.
Number of data relations If RDF dataset, total number of triples.
Number of entities If RDF dataset, total number of entities.
Number of data properties If RDF dataset, total number of unique properties used by the triples.
Data quality Describes the quality of the data in the dataset.
Metric for data quality A metric used to measure the quality of the data, such as missing values or invalid formats.

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