Data management

Fisheries and Oceans Canada provides for the management of data collected through Departmental regional and zonal programs and from foreign sources. Data are assembled, processed and disseminated through Science and Data Centres operating in all regions.

The Oceans Science Branch's Marine Environmental Data Section (MEDS) maintains archives of in-situ physical, chemical, and biological properties, helps coordinate national data management activities through participation in DFO's Science Data Management Sub-Committee and acts as the focal point for international cooperation in data management.

Ease of access to ocean data, both historical and recent, is essential for determining status and trends in biological and physical environments as well as for providing timely in-situ inputs and validation to modelling and forecasting activities. For reasons of public trust and to preserve the results of public investment in science, data management of this magnitude falls under the purview of government. DFO is the primary public source of ocean observations collected by Canadians.

• Pacific Region - Data and Products Archive
• Bedford Institute of Oceanography - Ocean and Ecosystem Science
• Quebec Region - Data and Products as served by the St. Lawrence Global Observatory
• The Polar Data Catalogue - provides access to Arctic Data