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SUBJECTS
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Government On-Line Report
March 31, 2006
Overview | GOL at DFO | Portals and Clusters | GOL Foundation | Key External Services | Future Plans | Contact Information
Overview
The mandate of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is to ensure safe, healthy and productive waters and aquatic ecosystems for the benefit of present and future generations. Through its mandate, the Department affects the livelihoods and safety of thousands of Canadians in oceans and freshwater industries throughout Canada, from fishing and marine transportation to tourism and recreation.
The Government On-Line initiative was the Government of Canada's project to provide information and services on the Internet. By providing information and services on-line, the government aimed to serve Canadians better and become the government most connected to its citizens. For DFO, the Internet offered numerous possibilities for improving the way that the Department delivers its services to Canadians. While various technologies already play a major role in the day-to-day work of the Department, DFO is continuing to work toward taking full advantage of the benefits offered by the Internet for delivering services and information to Canadians.
GOL at DFO
Service to Canadians is an important part of the Department’s vision, and DFO will continue to build on the progress made in the course of the GOL initiative and in improving its relationship with clients and Canadians alike, including developing new mechanisms to deliver programs and information to the public.
The Department’s vision for GOL is to "provide easy access to high-quality, integrated information and services required by Canadians to ensure sustainable fisheries management; sustainable development of oceans and freshwater; and safe and accessible Canadian waters". DFO has adopted a GOL strategy that will move the GOL agenda forward in the Department.
Portals and Clusters
DFO has and will continue to pursue opportunities with government and non-government partners to develop "portals" of information and services, consistent with DFO’s business goals, strategic objectives and available resources. Further examples include the National Fishing Web Site, a gateway to federal, provincial and territorial fishing information for anglers and tourists, and the Ocean Forecasting web-site for the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, an interdepartmental effort between DFO and Environment Canada. DFO is currently strategically supporting Transport Canada and Environment Canada in developing the Marine Services Portal, a single access point to government services for marine services clients.
GOL Foundation
DFO is committed to developing a solid foundation for GOL and an efficient approach to shared requirements across the Department and across the Government. The Department recognizes the need to enhance the management of its vast information holdings. Significant effort is being made to support the effective management of electronic documents, records and data.
To provide citizens with a secure and trusted on-line environment, the Department is ensuring that privacy and security issues are addressed for all GOL initiatives. In addition, DFO is adopting the government-wide guidelines and standards developed by the Strategic Infrastructure Initiative (SII), as it implements its information technology infrastructure to support the electronic delivery of DFO’s services.
Key External Services
DFO will continue to enhance existing on-line services, while ensuring that progress is being made on projects leading to new on-line DFO services.
DFO Portal
Like other science-based departments, the provision of information and knowledge is one of DFO’s key external services. DFO’s many Internet web sites are entry points or "gateways" to a wide range of departmental information and services. DFO’s web sites collectively contain over 60,000 pages of information ranging from sustainable resource use to scientific data about Canada’s waters and aquatic resources. The Department’s goal is to provide the citizens with a single point of access to the wide range of information and services offered by the Department. The Department’s web presence, or structure, will be less about how the department is organized internally and more about how clients seek and use information and services, making information and services easier for clients to access.
The Department is currently working to ensure that published materials will also be available in electronic formats on the Internet, and that information on web sites is recorded and archived to preserve institutional memory. To ensure that information is timely, accurate, relevant and complete, the Department is also improving the overall management of its web sites.
The Department is committed to ensuring that its web pages meet the Common Look and Feel Standards established by Treasury Board. These standards are designed to ensure that all Canadians, regardless of ability, geographic location or demographic category, are given equal access to information on the Government of Canada’s web sites. Our collective efforts on this are producing results for our clients as the accessibility of DFO web sites and information improves.
Marine Navigation Information Services
The Department currently provides a wide range of information on-line to help mariners safely and efficiently navigate Canadian waterways. For example, mariners are able to retrieve information, such as localized changes to navigation aids and events, navigational hazards, and changes to navigation routes and charts, through notices to mariners and notices to shippers. The Department’s Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) provides tidal predictions for over 700 locations in Canada on-line. CHS also provides a map-based on-line catalogue of nautical charts, and plans to introduce a service to help clients find one of the more than 700 chart dealers nearest to them.
Consult:
National Notice to Mariners at http://www.notmar.com/go.php?doc=eng/index
Canadian Hydrographic Service at http://www.chs-shc.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/chs/en/
Understanding Canada’s Waters and Aquatic Resources
DFO is keenly interested in meeting increasing public expectations for greater involvement in the decisions being made about the management and use of Canada’s waters and aquatic resources and environments. DFO has developed several web sites to increase awareness of sustainable development and provide more accurate data for better resource management. As well, DFO offers a wide range of scientific and socio-economic data, and information and reference material on Canada’s waters and aquatic resources. Much of the information has been made more dynamic and interactive over the last two years. This includes foundation interactive maps which display departmental data, such as North Atlantic Fisheries Organization zones and sub-zones, fishery regulation zones and DFO statistical areas, geographically.
The following list provides a sampling of the diverse information sources available on the Department’s web sites.
- Marine Environmental Data Service (MEDS)
MEDS manages and archives ocean data collected by DFO, or acquired through national and international programmes conducted in ocean areas adjacent to Canada, and disseminates data, data products, and services to the marine community. Using a common web access point, MEDS provides various types of scientific data such as tide and water levels, remote sensing and physical and chemical oceanographic profiles.
Consult:
Marine Environmental Data Service at http://www.meds-sdmm.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/meds/Home_e.htm
- Fisheries and Oceans Statistical Services
This service provides on-line statistical information on a wide range of fisheries data, including Canadian landings, import and export data, fisheries products and stocks and aquaculture. Various reports are also available such as Recreational Fisheries in Canada and Selected Results for the Great Lakes.
The Annual Statistical Reviews are available in hard copy and will not be available on the web site.
Consult:
Fisheries and Oceans Statistical Service at http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/communic/statistics/main_e.htm
- St. Lawrence Observatory Portal
The St. Lawrence Observatory (OSL) Portal is dedicated to the exchange, dissemination and presentation of scientific data and marine information collected in the St. Lawrence marine ecosystem. Key accessible information includes real-time oceanographic data, tides, and ocean forecasts (sea ice, surface currents and temperature). The OSL features the results of collaborative endeavours such as: the Sentinel Fisheries Program, which uses data collected by fishers through a partnership between scientists and the fishing industry; the CDEENA Program (Comparative Dynamics of Exploited Ecosystems in the N-W Atlantic) that illustrates the predator-prey interactions in marine ecosystems; and the Shipboard Thermosalinographs Project that presents oceanographic data collected and transmitted by scientific equipment installed onboard commercial vessels sailing on the St. Lawrence. Since January 2000, the OSL continues to serve a wide-ranging audience including academics, industry, government and non-government organizations both in Canada and abroad.
Consult:
St. Lawrence Observatory at http://www.osl.gc.ca/en/index.html
- Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS)
The CSAS web site provides a wide range of scientific information on typical issues like stock assessments, ecosystems, fisheries research, environmental impact, habitat, aquaculture, ecosystem objectives for integrated management, biological definition of oceans management zones, biological basis for siting of marine protected areas, invasive species and species at risk. These are materialized through Science Advisory Reports and Research Documents, to help evaluate Canada’s fisheries resources; as well as Proceedings which provide a record on decisions, recommendations and major points of discussion at DFO-sponsored meetings. The web site also features a Science Advisory Schedule to provide information on past and upcoming advisory events.
Consult:
Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat at http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas/Csas/Home-Accueil_e.htm
- The Oceans Program Tracking Activity System (OPAT)
The Oceans Program Tracking Activity (OPAT) system is designed to increase national and international awareness of activities related to DFO’s ocean-related programs. Geographically referenced on a map of Canada, clients can simply click and zoom to pull up detailed information including specific project objectives, partners, achievements, background studies and key contacts.
- WebWaves
WAVES, DFO’s on-line catalogue of library holdings, contains bibliographic information about the published and unpublished literature relating to fisheries, aquatic sciences, and nautical sciences available in the Department’s libraries. The catalogue provides links to full-text documents for many of the Department’s recent publications. In addition, as frequently requested or out-of-print departmental publications are digitized, links from WAVES are established to provide access to these older documents.
Consult:
WebWaves at http://inter01.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/waves2/index2.html?__LANG=en
Licensing
On June 8, 2004, Fisheries and Oceans Canada announced the launch of the National Recreational Licensing System (NRLS), the new online application for B.C. tidal waters sport fishing licences service. The new online licence service is user friendly: fill out the secured online form, pay the required fee, and immediately print the licence and go fishing. The NRLS has also been designed to meet the stringent federal government of Canada’s privacy legislation requirements.
In 2005, the online service was expanded to provide the convenience of web-based licence access to non-resident anglers in the United States and around the world. Fishers have reacted positively to the addition of the online service option, resulting in a three-fold increase in online licence transactions in the 2005 recreational fishing season.
Future Plans
GOL provided much-needed resources in early years to support worthy projects, which otherwise may not have been accomplished. It helped to identify a need to coordinate across programs and regions our overall delivery of information and services to clients. There is still much to be done and we will continue to improve as time and resources permit.
Building on the work already completed through GOL and on the implementation of a corporate look for all of its internet presence, DFO is working actively at integrating its internet presence to better reflect the needs of Canadians. This work will be undertaken in conjunction with the broader work of central agencies to maximize results.
Contact Information
For more information, please contact:
Emil Daniel
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
200 Kent St.
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6
Telephone: (613) 993-2926
E-mail: daniele@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
