Vector data such as marine mammals, vegetation, commercial fishery distributions, and biologically significant areas, were downloaded from public databases such as Data BC, Open Data Canada, and the BCMCA (B.C. Marine Conservation Analysis). The data was downloaded using the parameters ArcView Shape and UTM Zone 10 projection for consistency.
Once the initial shapefiles were cleaned for our project boundaries, the layers were projected using BC Albers Equal Area Conic. This projection was chosen not only because it is the preferred coordinate system in British Columbia, but because it also maintains sufficient accuracy for the province of BC on a 2D plane. The distortion in area and distance is relatively small, which is beneficial for our purpose since we are interested in the location of a new marine protected area off the coast of BC.
We also used raster data such as bathymetry and sea surface temperatures in our project. These files were downloaded from BC Marine Conservation Analysis and NASA Giovanni, respectively. We used these raster files to conduct a multi-criteria evaluation, further determining and verifying our initial proposed marine protected area.
| Layer Name | Description | Data Source | Data Type |
| BC_Marine_EcoSection | This is a data file with polygons representing the major sections of the ocean off the coast of BC | DataBC | Vector (Polygon) |
| DFO_EBSA | Feature layer with Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas in Canadian Waters | Fisheries and Oceans Canada | |
| MPA | Feature layer with the final proposed MPA | Open Data BC, BC Marine Conservation Analysis | |
| DFO_MPA_MPO_ZPM | Feature layer with current MPA’s by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans off the Coast of B.C. (within project boundaries) | Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Vector (Polygon) |
| Layers of commercial fishery distribution with targeted species | |||
| CRIMS_COMMERCIAL_CRABS | Distributions of commercial crab fishery | DataBC | Vector (Polygon) |
| CRIMS_COMMERCIAL_GEOGDUCKS | Distributions of commercial geoduck fishery | ||
| CRIMS_COMMERCIAL_GROUNDFISH | Distributions of commercial groundfish fishery | ||
| CRIMS_COMMERCIAL_HERRING | Distributions of commercial herring roe fishery | ||
| CRIMS_COMMERCIAL_PRAWNS | Distributions of commercial prawn fishery | ||
| CRIMS_COMMERCIAL_SALMON_NETS | Distributions of commercial salmon net fishery | ||
| CRIMS_COMMERCIAL_SALMON_TRAWLS | Distributions of commercial salmon trawl fishery | ||
| CRIMS_COMMERCIAL_SCALLOPS | Distributions of commercial scallop fishery | ||
| CRIMS_COMMERCIAL_SEACUCUMBERS | Distributions of commercial sea cucumber fishery | ||
| CRIMS_COMMERCIAL_SHRIMPS | Distributions of commercial shrimp fishery | ||
| CRIMS_COMMERCIAL_SQUIDS | Distributions of commercial squid fishery | ||
| CRIMS_COMMERCIAL_URCHINS | Distributions of commercial red and green urchin fishery | ||
| Layers of marine mammal distribution | |||
| C_N_F_SEAL_polygon | Distribution of northern fur seals off the coast of BC | DataBC | Vector (polygon) |
| C_KILLR_WH_polygon | Distribution of killer whales off the coast of BC | ||
| C_PAC_W_DO_polygon | Distribution of Pacific white-sided dolphins off the coast of BC | ||
| C_SEAOTTER_polygon | Distribution of sea otters off the coast of BC | ||
| C_HMPB_WHL_polygon | Distribution of humpback whales off the coast of BC | ||
| C_HARB_SEA_polygon | Distribution of harbour seals off the coast of BC | ||
| C_HARB_POR_polygon | Distribution of harbour porpoises off the coast of BC | ||
| C_GRAY_WHA_polygon | Distribution of gray whales off the coast of BC | ||
| CRMSDLLSPR_polygon | Distribution of Dall’s porpoise off the coast of BC | ||
| C_CAL_SEAL_polygon | Distribution of California sea lions off the coast of BC | ||
| sea_surface_temp | Sea surface temperatures from May to August of 2012 | NASA Giovanni | Raster |
| bathymetry | Bathymetry of the BC coast from 2011 | BC Marine Conservation Analysis | |
| SST_suitability_depth_locate | Final layer with 3 most suitable areas | N/A | |
| Vegetation | |||
|
BCMCA_ECO_Kelp_ GiantKelp_Polygons_DATA |
Distribution of Kelp off the coast of BC | BC Marine Conservation Analysis | Vector (polygon) |
|
BCMCA_ECO_VascPlants_ Eelgrass_Polygons_DATA |
Distribution of Eelgrass off the coast of BC | ||
Continue to our methodology.