From 2008 to 2015, a monitoring program in support of the Quebec mariculture industry was carried out by Merinov with the support of the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (French: Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation (MAPAQ)). The main objective was to compile and transmit relevant biological and environmental data to marine producers for the purpose of informed decision making during their commercial operations. Established for the three producing regions of maritime Quebec (Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Gaspésie and Côte-Nord), the mariculture monitoring program has made it possible to document in a synchronized manner some twenty mariculture sites (11 mussel farms, 7 pectin farms and 2 oyster farms). This was made possible through monitoring various biotic and abiotic parameters such as recruitment success (larvae and postlarvae) and collection performance of the cultivated species, proliferation of undesirable species (predators and epibionts) and the quality of the commercial product (meat yield).
Environmental monitoring has also been carried out as part of this programme. Temperature data were collected from the Magdalen Islands, the North Shore and the Gaspé Peninsula, see [https://catalogue.ogsl.ca/en/dataset/ca-cioos_ed9525e4-4131-4f10-8ad4-c1ce82dd24ce].
The reports are divided by year and sector of the mariculture industry.
