Canada’s Hidden Fisheries
A Unique Canadian Marine Industry Under Threat
By Mathew Channer
As a resident of Georgian Bay, Ontario, I am enthralled by both the unique marine culture and beautiful environment of Canada’s Great Lakes. So, it was a great surprise to me when I stumbled across an unassuming YouTube movie, Last Boat on the Lake, directed by Dalhousie University professor Dr. Hannah Harrison, about a Great Lakes freshwater fishery. While I had assumed that some of the fish coveted by visitors to the region were local, I had no idea of the proud history and unique Canadian spirit of these small-fleet fisheries that operate from Ontario’s quaint lakeside ports. As it happened, I was learning about it during a critical time; the industry faces multiple threats and is at risk of disappearing entirely.
Having studied ocean sustainability and with 18 years working in the marine industry, I’ll admit I was jaded about commercial fishing. Yet I found a lot to like about Canada’s Great Lakes fisheries. Quotas are tightly managed and fish stocks appear to be stable. The fisheries are predominantly localized and multigenerational, operated by families who have inherited their vessels and quotas and who live and work in the local communities they serve. Some of the non-Indigenous families have operated for 200 years, and the Indigenous families that now fish commercially are carrying on the traditions that their people have used to manage these waters for as long humans have inhabited the region. In Lake Erie, two commercial species, yellow perch and walleye, have been MSC certified since 2015, a globally recognized sustainability standard. Even better, most of the fish caught in the lakes are consumed in the region.
