Lake Winnipeg’s fishers are not the problem

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/11/2018 (2705 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fishing is a difficult and underappreciated occupation. To be a successful commercial fisher requires skills of reading not only weather patterns, but also currents, the movements of the fish and the vagaries of the economy and policy. We are very fortunate here in Manitoba to have hundreds of professional fishers, who go out on their boats or Bombardiers to catch fresh fish for export markets and the tables of Manitobans. This is not just a livelihood, but a way of life.

As fisheries are complex and dynamic, so is fisheries management. It has to consider not just the ecological aspects of fisheries, but also how fisheries are influenced by social, political and economic factors.

On Nov. 14, the Free Press published an article by Scott Forbes on the management of Lake Winnipeg. Forbes cited the Sea Choices report which described Lake Winnipeg as “the worst-managed lake” in the world.

Is Lake Winnipeg managed perfectly? No. No lake or other water body in the world can be governed perfectly. In my native country of Iceland, for example, fisheries have been managed by literally following biology and economics textbooks, with devastating social effects on small rural communities. There are simply too many variables in nature to govern fisheries perfectly.

Is Lake Winnipeg, then, the worst-managed lake? No. How would one even compare different ecosystems fairly? The statement that Lake Winnipeg is the worst-managed lake in the world only serves to stoke an unwarranted, popular misperception of the lake. More subtly, it also may create demand for the eco-certification industry behind the Sea Choices report, which tries to convince us that it is the only one with the solution.

Forbes’ article gives the impression that fishers are primarily to blame for what he sees as crisis in the fishery of Lake Winnipeg. It is important to recognize, however, that fish stocks vary over time for natural reasons that have little to do with the efforts of commercial and First Nations fishers.

Strong classes of fish come and go. We can understand recent changes in walleye availability when we recognize that the famous large 2001-year class of walleye is now in old age. Fishers have also observed that the opening of the emergency channel from Lake St. Martin channel to Lake Winnipeg has changed fish habitat, spawning grounds and movement. They think the channel might further have led to the influx of tullibees and whitefish in the south basin of the lake, thereby increasing the effort needed to catch walleye.

Fishers from Norway House, Grand Rapids and other fishing communities in the north basin can attest to how Manitoba Hydro’s activities over the decades have affected fishing as well.

It is unfair to suggest that commercial fishers want to catch “baby” walleye. The fact is, the market dictates that mid-sized walleye are desirable, because their fillets fit best on a plate. That is the size, therefore, that fishers target. Not “baby” walleye. Additionally, to protect big fish (the best spawners), commercial fishers do not use nets larger than a mesh size of 5.25 inches on Lake Winnipeg. Forbes also seems to have forgotten that commercial fishers do not begin the spring fishery until 48 hours after 80 per cent of the walleye have spawned.

It is a prevalent, but simplistic, idea that fishers are self-serving individuals who do not have any regard for their environment. Fishers do, in fact, think a lot about their environment and about how Lake Winnipeg should be governed. Fishing in Manitoba is based on innumerable generations’ interactions with the aquatic ecosystem, a fact sometimes too readily overlooked. If we want to improve management of Lake Winnipeg and other lakes in Manitoba, we must consider the knowledge of the true inland fisheries experts in Manitoba — the commercial and First Nations fishers.

The budget cuts that Sustainable Development has experienced through the years are unacceptable, and there is a pressing need for the provincial government of Manitoba to reverse them. However, instead of looking for an external solution in the form of eco-certification as a hope to improve management, Manitoba should spend time and money on homegrown solutions.

Not only do we need to better include commercial and First Nations fishers in decision-making, we need to cultivate better relationships between fishers (First Nations and other commercial fishers) and the research community in Manitoba. Both groups can learn a lot from each other, and exchange ideas on how to improve our fisheries.

The provincial government of Manitoba should facilitate and support such a dialogue.

Sölmundur Karl Pálsson is an anthropologist and PhD candidate in anthropology at University of Manitoba.