Coastal Resource Information Management System (CRIMS)
Last updated on June 27, 2024The Coastal Resource Information Management System (CRIMS) is an online, interactive map for viewing coastal and marine data of British Columbia. It contains a wide variety of coast and marine resources, including aquaculture, shoreline classification, selected fisheries information, and offshore oil and gas information.
On this page
- About Coastal Resource Information Management System (CRIMS)
- About Coastal Resource Map Viewer
- Contact us
About the Coastal Resource Information Management System (CRIMS)
The development of CRIMS is no longer ongoing. Additional layers will not be added, and there are no plans for improvements or updated releases of the application with new layers.
How to Use
Coastal and marine source information can be utilized through the CRIMS application.
Documents
The following documents detail how CRIMS data was collected and used.
Inventory
Results of an inventory of the various information sources held by government agencies, universities and individuals that relate to B.C.’s coastal zone:
- Coastal Information Resource Inventory (PDF, 198KB) (published 1993)
Mapping & Database
Standards for mapping physical shore-zones in British Columbia:
- Physical Shore-Zone Mapping System (PDF, 2.6MB) (published 2005)
Database and mapping system for the descriptive biota of British Columbia:
- Biological Shore-Zone Mapping System (PDF, 287KB) (published 1995)
Methodology for large-scale mapping of estuaries in British Columbia:
- Estuary Mapping System (PDF, 2.5MB) (published 1999)
Entities and their attributes in the provincial shore-zone database:
- Shore-zone Entities & Attributes (PDF, 146KB) (created 2011)
Classification
The B.C. Marine Ecological Classification (BCMEC) is a hierarchical classification that delineates provincial marine areas into:
- Ecozones
- Ecoprovinces
- Ecoregions
- Ecosections
- Ecounits
BCMEC was developed from previous federal and provincial marine ecological classifications. The classification is used for marine and coastal planning, resource management, and the provincial marine protected areas strategy.
- BCMEC Marine Ecosections & Ecounits (PDF, 388KB) (published 2002)
- BCMEC Update (PDF, 5MB) (published 2001)
About the Coastal Resource Map Viewer
The Coastal Resource Map Viewer provides maps displaying CRIMS data such as biological resources, marine industries, shoreline types, and expected shoreline habitats for use in coastal planning and marine response activities.
Coastal and marine biological resources include:
- Eelgrass
- Kelp
- Clams
- Fish bearing rivers
- Fishing areas
- Bird distribution
The maps are available as PDF files and cover the entire coastline of British Columbia. They are provided as a quick reference for locating coastal resources; however, they are not meant to be a replacement for the source data provided by CRIMS. Users performing marine response activities should always refer to the source databases for more detailed information.
How to Use
- Open the Coastal Resource Map Viewer.
- Zoom in to your area of interest.
- Click on a red dot map marker, and a pop-up box will display a list of resource types. (Use the arrows at the top right of the pop-up box to navigate its pages.)
- Click the link for the resource type you wish to see. This will open a PDF map or list of maps.
Contact us
The CRIMS map and data layers are managed by GeoBC.
General enquiries: GeoBCinfo@gov.bc.ca
Deliveries Courier
3rd Floor, 3400 Davidson Ave
Victoria, BC V8Z 3P8
Mailing Address
PO BOX 9375 STN PROV GOVT
Victoria, BC V8W 9M5