GBA Update - Summer 2020

13 ≥ www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Summer 2020 FISHERIES Commercial Fishing in Northern Lake Huron and Georgian Bay By Bill Steiss Chair, Fisheries Committee 1 Based on 2018 values in Lake Huron Commercial Fishing Summary for 2018, prepared by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. 2 Based on an informal survey of retail outlets in Ontario and the United States Introduction Commercial fishing in Lake Huron and Georgian Bay plays a significant social and economic role locally, provincially and beyond. However, its importance is not very well known by cottagers, residents and tourists who tend to focus on the recreational side of fishing. While we often enjoy eating locally caught freshwater fish, most of us have little knowledge of the commercial side of the business – how it works, how it benefits our lives, challenges the industry faces, and how to support it. Although lake trout and lake whitefish stocks are nowhere near the numbers they once were, commercial fishing continues to employ local people and to carry on traditions passed on from generation to generation, supporting local and Indigenous communities. Today, in the waters of Lake Huron, the North Channel and Georgian Bay, there are over 60 local commercial licensed fisheries, including five First Nations commercial fishing agreements. Starting in 1979, the province has been monitoring commercial fish catches for Lake Huron, the North Channel and Georgian Bay, collectively referred to as the three basins. To manage this fishery, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s (MNRF’s) Upper Great Lakes Management Unit, in co-operation with commercial fisheries and First Nations, has set up individual Quota Management Areas (QMAs). Within each of the three basins and for each of the QMAs, allowable commercial harvests are set by quotas by MNRF to ensure the long-term viability for each species of fish. Statistics on fish harvested and released, and the average estimated value of each fish species sold at first point of sale are monitored for each of the QMAs. The Catch For the last five years (2014-2018), annual commercial fish harvests in Lake Huron’s three basins have averaged nearly three million pounds, representing about 14 percent of Ontario’s Great Lakes’ harvest. Back in the mid and late 1990s, Lake Huron’s fishery operators enjoyed harvests exceeding those of today, topping over six million pounds annually. While lake whitefish was the predominant catch, as it is today, their numbers are less than half of what they were in the 1990s and into the early 2000s. However, on a positive note, lake trout, yellow perch and smelt are showing recent signs of recovery in some basins. The Commercial Harvest Value According to MNRF, the yearly average value of fishery harvests from the three basins of Lake Huron for 2014 to 2018, excluding open net aquaculture, produced a total estimated wholesale dollar value of nearly $5 million. By the time the product is processed, packed and shipped, the market value jumps to over $40 million. The lake whitefish harvest stems from mid and lower portions of Lake Huron, with about a quarter caught in Georgian Bay and the North Channel. Highly regarded by commercial operators, average yearly harvests over the last five years have been over two million pounds, producing annual dockside values in excess of $3.8 million ($1.87/lb) 1 , reaching retail values of $26.2 million ($13/lb) 2 . With lake whitefish having a high commercial value, but with catch numbers declining, concerns have been raised by commercial operators as to how these declining numbers will affect their livelihood. However, recent signs of a recovery are evident in lake whitefish in Lake Huron’s North Channel. Historically, lake trout in Lake Huron and Georgian Bay reached all-time lows in the early 1960s due to sea lamprey predation, in combination with overfishing. But with aggressive sea lamprey controls initiated by the United States and Canada, lake trout harvests, while well below the harvest weights of the 1940s, have made incremental steps towards recovery. Starting in the mid 2000s, lake trout harvests have averaged over 432,000 pounds annually, producing a dockside value of $255,000 ($.59/lb), with a market value reaching $5.6 million ($13/lb). Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Source: PA Fish & Boat Commission Continues on page 17