DFO Pacific Groundfish Synoptic Trawl Surveys - Queen Charlotte Sound

The Queen Charlotte Sound (QCS) synoptic bottom trawl survey was conducted annually from 2003 to 2005 and has since been repeated every second year on the odd-numbered years. The survey was not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 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 Hecate Strait (HS) survey, the West Coast Vancouver Island (WCVI) survey, the West Coast Haida Gwaii (WCHG) survey, and the Strait of Georgia (SOG) 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.