Overflight monitoring observations of recreational fishing activity on the South Coast of British Columbia

These data provide the coordinates of recreational fishing boats sighted from aerial surveys as part of the Fisheries and Oceans Canada South Coast Area Creel program to estimate recreational fishing catch and effort. The recreational boats are classed as 1) fishing, or 2) running. Aerial surveys are conducted from float planes approximately every 3-7 days during the peak fishing season according to weather and resource availability. Digitization of the boat sightings began in recent years and complete datasets are available beginning in 2021.

The aerial surveys provide a snaphot of recreational fishing effort limited to the short interval the plane was passing overhead and should not be construed as total fishing effort. Due to the volume of fishing activity in some areas, each point represents one or more boats in approximately the same area. The resolution of the observation points is decided by the survey observer. Locations and boat counts are subject to observer error. The total number of boats observed is related to the number and timing of successful aerial surveys which vary seasonally and regionally. As such, results are not directly comparable across regions or time periods.