Gulf Region at a Glance

The Gulf Ecosystem | The Fishing Industry | DFO’s Role and Administrative Structure

The Gulf Region of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) comprises all the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence adjacent to the eastern coast of New Brunswick, the Northumberland Strait coast of Nova Scotia and western Cape Breton Island, as well as the whole of Prince Edward Island. These waters, which represent about 1 per cent of Canada’s exclusive economic zone, account for approximately 15 per cent of the total catch of Canadian fisheries, and constitute one of the country’s most productive marine areas.

The DFO’s Gulf Region, with its regional office in Moncton, its three area offices (Tracadie-Sheila, Charlottetown and Antigonish) and its 20 local offices, manages a network of 118 harbour authorities and serves approximately 12,000 commercial fishers, nearly 40 per cent of whom are French-speaking. This organization is thus the only region of Fisheries and Oceans Canada to have been designated bilingual, and approximately half its staff members are bilingual.

Map of the Gulf Region