Ontario's Commercial Fisheries Policies
Contents |
Introduction
Commercial fishing has an important place in the history of settlement and development of the Great Lakes basin. Aboriginal peoples depended on Great Lakes fishes for subsistence, and as European settler communities were established, fishing became an important commercial activity and recreational pastime. However, as early as the late 1800s, some fish populations had begun to decline and disappear (Figure 3.1.1).
The reasons for the historical collapses of Great Lakes fishes mirror those that continue in the world’s oceans today: synergistic impacts of overfishing; habitat loss and pollution from development; and importantly, the failure or absence of regulation. Further, peaking populations of aquatic invaders in the Great Lakes – such as the sea lamprey in the 1920s, alewife in the 1950s and round goby in the 1990s – have precipitated crises in native fish communities. The Great Lakes are now a highly altered ecosystem, with vastly different fish communities today than existed for centuries before European settlement. Many of the fish species that provided for the initial development of the commercial fishing industry no longer exist – such as the Lake Ontario Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and blue pickerel (Sander vitreus glaucus) – or can no longer support the large commercial fisheries of the past, due to concern over population status, such as lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), lake herring (Coregonus artedi) and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) (see Figure 3.1.1).
Figure 3.1.1. Decline and collapse of some historically commerically fished species in Ontario waters of the Great Lakes (Lakes Erie, Ontario, Huron and Superior).There are no data available for blue pickerel prior to 1915. Lake Ontario Atlantic salmon was the first commercial species to become extirpated in the Great Lakes (by 1900); however, the species is not included in this graph as no commercial catch data remain for this species. Source data: Great Lakes Fishery Commission.
Figure 3.1.2. Ontario’s commercial catch of quota-managed fish species. Fluctuations are not an exact reflection of biological trends, as fisheries-dependent data are also affected by economic/market forces, weather and other environmental factors. For example, walleye fisheries were closed in Lakes Erie and Ontario due to mercury contamination from 1970 to 1977. Further, additional landings may have gone unreported. Source data: Great Lakes Fishery Commission.
Commercial Fishing in Ontario
As some commercially fished species became depleted, the industry targeted other species (See Figures 3.1.1 and 3.1.2). Currently, commercial fishing operations continue on all Great Lakes and some inland lakes in the province. Freshwater commercial landings from Ontario comprise almost 40 per cent of Canada’s national freshwater catch, and contribute approximately $200 million to Ontario’s economy annually. This is relatively small compared to the province’s recreational fisheries: anglers spent over $1.8 billion on direct recreational fishing expenditures in Ontario in 2005. This ECO review focuses on commercial fisheries policy; the ECO will examine Ontario’s recreational fisheries in a future annual report.
Over 80 per cent of commercial fishing in Ontario occurs in Lake Erie, the warmest and most productive of the Great Lakes. The fishing industry predominantly uses gillnets to catch walleye (Sander vitreus), yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) (see Figure 3.1.2). Most of the industry is in Canadian waters, as U.S. state governments have eliminated or tightly restricted most commercial fishing in favour of the recreational fisheries.
Commercial Fisheries Policy in Ontario
Policy for commercial fishing in the Great Lakes has always been complex due to the number of interests and jurisdictions involved. Since the late 19th century, the Ontario government has maintained primary responsibility for the management and licensing of the province’s commercial fisheries. The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) currently manages Ontario’s commercial fisheries under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997 (FWCA), in collaboration with a number of different agencies, including the federal government, the bi-national Great Lakes Fisheries Commission, the Ontario Commercial Fisheries Association (OCFA), the Anishinabek/Ontario Fisheries Resource Centre and Aboriginal fishers. The Great Lakes Fisheries Commission co-ordinates fisheries research and management direction among the eight Great Lakes states, the two federal governments and Ontario, focusing on fish stocks of common concern.
For the past several decades, there has been very little information available to the public regarding the province’s policies for commercial fisheries. In 2010, MNR posted a draft proposal for a new Strategic Policy for Ontario’s Commercial Fisheries on the Environmental Registry. The ministry is planning to release subsequent policies dealing with specific management issues over the next several years. This year, the ECO undertook a preliminary examination of MNR’s current management system for Great Lakes commercial fisheries.
Allocation: How Much to Fish, and How Much to Protect?
There are numerous considerations the province takes into account when allocating fish quotas, including ecological sustainability, subsistence or ceremonial fishers, commercial fishers (both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal), and recreational fishers. Further, MNR must account for uncertainty as fish populations fluctuate with environmental and ecological changes.
Determining the allocation of some fish species to the commercial fishery is a multi-stage process, conducted on an annual basis. For example, for Lake Erie, a lake committee under the Great Lakes Fishery Commission first determines the total allowable catch for species of “common interest” within the lake (i.e., walleye and yellow perch), based on previous years’ stock assessments. Second, the province allocates specific amounts of fish for conservation, subsistence and ceremonial use. MNR then divides the remaining amounts between Ontario’s recreational and commercial fisheries. Finally, each commercial licence holder gets a predetermined percentage share of a lake’s allotted commercial catch (called an individual transferable quota). However, many Great Lakes fishes are considered “unlimited quota” species and do not have an allocated commercial catch limit – for example, white bass (Morone chrysops) and longnose gar (Lepisosteus osseus). MNR does not monitor these species as closely as quota-managed species.
MNR does not have a publicly available policy to transparently explain how it allocates fish between user groups, such as recreational and commercial fisheries. In some cases, these fisheries target different species; in other cases, commercial fishers are prohibited from targeting certain species (e.g., Pacific salmonids). However, for other species like walleye that are pursued by both groups, MNR should provide an explicit statement of how allocation is calculated. Further, there is no indication from the ministry as to what conditions might trigger an allocated catch limit for a species that currently has an unlimited quota. For example, since white bass has increased in market value, some commercial fishers have targeted the species more frequently – but no catch limits for this species have yet been set.
Monitoring and Stock Assessment
Fisheries managers use stock assessments to determine the current and probable future abundance of commercial fish stocks. In the Great Lakes, there are a number of organizations that assess the status of fish species and communities, using a variety of methods. These assessments can be based on information from commercial fishers or landings (fisheries-dependent assessments) or on data collected from scientific surveys and studies in specific areas or across an entire lake (fisheries-independent assessments). Assessments based on the size of commercial catch can be skewed, as commercial catch varies with factors beyond ecology (e.g., market forces and economic value of particular fishes). Thus, scientific surveys and fisheries-independent data provide a less biased indication of stock status.
MNR monitors the commercial harvest through daily catch reports as a condition of each fishing licence, a process developed jointly by MNR and the OCFA. Daily catch reports are used for: assessing fish population size and structure; tracking harvests and checking against assigned licence quotas; ensuring harvests are legal and comply with licence conditions; assisting in calculating commercial fish royalties; and setting future quotas. Fishers provide data on landing, effort and harvest information in the reports.
Sampling of commercially harvested species is used to break down total harvest into size and age, which can be used to model an estimated population size and mortality. For example, in Wheatley Harbour in Lake Erie, MNR collects random samples of fishes caught by commercial fishers. In Lake Ontario, an OCFA observer annually conducts sampling of lake whitefish and northern pike (Esox lucius).
While all of MNR’s Great Lakes Management Units (Ontario, Erie and the Upper Great Lakes – Huron and Superior) collect data on local fish populations, fish habitat and associated stresses, the quantity and quality of stock assessments vary among units. In Lake Erie, MNR and the OCFA have been conducting a fishery-independent survey program called the Lake Erie Partnership Index Fishing Survey since 1989. In the survey, commercial fishing crews and boats deploy experimental gillnets at sites across the Canadian side of Lake Erie annually from August to November. By contrast, the Lake Ontario Management unit has been determining the abundance of fishes, including lake whitefish, yellow perch and walleye, from fish community index gillnetting and trawling only in the eastern Canadian portion of the lake and the Bay of Quinte. MNR and the Great Lakes Management Units also work in partnership with other organizations, such as Fisheries and Oceans Canada and state authorities, to conduct stock assessments.
First Nations communities also conduct stock assessments using protocols developed by MNR (e.g., spring littoral index netting, fall walleye index netting, early summer trapnetting and nearshore community index netting) and, wherever possible, incorporate traditional knowledge into the project design. For example, in 2008, the Anishinabek/Ontario Fisheries Resource Centre completed 21 field projects (e.g., workshops, habitat inventories, index assessments and spawning assessments), which involved 17 First Nations communities. When requested by MNR, the First Nations communities share their data.
Licensing and Enforcement
Commercial fishing licences include detailed conditions describing allowable fishers, quota zones, fishing gear, times of year, target species and quota allocation. Approximately 600 commercial fishing licences are renewed in the province annually, 513 of which are on the Great Lakes. Licence conditions change every year and are individualized for specific fishers. The industry has been closed to new entrants since 1983, with no new commercial fishing licences or quota holders. Commercial fishing licences are not classified as instruments under the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993 (EBR); therefore, the public does not have the right to comment on licences or conditions when they are renewed.
The number of inspections and audits of commercial fishers by MNR varies by lake. The ministry places a high priority on enforcement in Lake Erie, where the bulk of the commercial catch occurs. MNR notes that Lake Erie is also the easiest of the Great Lakes to enforce, since fish processing plants are concentrated in specific ports (e.g., Kingsville, Port Dover and Wheatley). Port Officers on Lake Erie inspect fishers for compliance at all ports of landing, Weight Observers are also stationed at major processing plants to record actual weights of fish harvested. The ministry estimates that 45 per cent of all landings on Lake Erie are inspected or weight observed, and MNR is confident that the actual catch is within 5 to 7 per cent of the reported catch.
On the other Great Lakes, MNR notes that enforcement is not nearly as rigorous as seen on Lake Erie since fishing is more widely spread across a larger geographic area. On Lake Huron, the second major fish producing lake in Ontario, MNR uses a combination of officer inspections and on-board catch sampling to monitor fish catch. The Lake Ontario unit currently places priority enforcement effort on the marketing of invasive species in the Greater Toronto Area (i.e., enforcing the ban on live Asian carp in grocery stores; for more information on Asian carp, please see Part 2.1 of this Annual Report).
Some common licence violations include: fishing more than allocated quota; failure to declare landed fish; and inaccurate information on a daily catch report. Licence conditions appear to target issues of concern, and MNR lake managers can provide additional restrictions when needed. However, enforcement may not be targeting some problematic activities of concern to commercial fishers, such as high-grading (see below); curbing these practices may need additional on-board enforcement.
Bycatch and Species at Risk
MNR defines bycatch as the unintentional capture of fish or non-fish species while fishing for a targeted species. High-grading is the discard of low-quality or juvenile fish of a quota species by fishers (i.e., attempting to maximize the profit for catch within a restricted quota). MNR states that fishers are required to declare all fishes caught on their daily catch report, including bycatch or incidental harvest.
A particular issue of concern is the bycatch of species at risk. Currently, commercial fishers are exempted, under O. Reg. 242/08, from the Endangered Species Act, 2007 provision prohibiting the harm of species at risk. MNR has not undertaken dedicated research on the bycatch of species at risk in Ontario’s commercial fishery or bycatch mortality of these species. There are 27 fish species at risk in Ontario, eight of which have been observed in Lake Erie in the last four years. Threatened lake sturgeon can be caught by Lake Erie commercial gillnets, but are usually live-released when caught. However, a recent study funded in part by the OCFA showed that there was a high incidence of juvenile lake sturgeon mortality when caught in deep waters by bottom-set gillnets in the western basin of Lake Erie. This led the authors of that study to note that continued gillnet fishing could “reduce recruitment in subsequent years and impede population recovery over the long term.”
MNR could impose additional measures to prevent and reduce bycatch, including additional seasonal, gear (e.g., for trawls) and depth restrictions, and sanctuary areas during spawning or nursery times. MNR is currently preparing a bycatch policy for Ontario’s commercial fisheries that it will post on the Environmental Registry.
ECO Comment
The same stresses that caused historical collapses of Great Lakes commercial fisheries still exist and will continue into the future. The ECO believes that the lack of articulated policy has hindered the public’s understanding of the ecological sustainability of Great Lakes commercial fisheries. There have been no formalized policies to explain to fishers, the public or other government agencies how MNR manages commercial fisheries in Ontario. This same problem extends to other areas of fisheries management, such as aquaculture. Given the historical mismanagement of Great Lakes fisheries, the ECO is troubled by the absence of transparent policy.
Stock assessment and harvest monitoring are vital components in commercial fisheries management. In the Great Lakes, the diversity of species and fishing pressures varies greatly between lakes (and even within lakes). While stock assessments should be tailored to the conditions of a lake, there is a disparity among MNR’s Great Lakes Management Units in the quality and quantity of data collected. In addition to current studies, the ECO encourages MNR to undertake further fisheries-independent, lakewide stock assessments and monitoring. MNR partnerships with other agencies, such as the OCFA and the Anishinabek/Ontario Fisheries Resource Centre, are useful to supplement MNR’s efforts. However, MNR should not rely solely on data collected by partners, but also ensure that it conducts independent stock assessments and harvest monitoring to better inform commercial fisheries management in Ontario.
The ECO is encouraged that MNR is moving forward with a policy framework for the province’s commercial fisheries, including a bycatch policy. However, the ECO questions why MNR does not have an immediate plan to develop an updated allocation policy for Ontario’s fisheries. As allocation affects all other management decisions for the province’s fisheries, it is critical that MNR complete this policy first and foremost. The ECO urges the ministry to develop an allocation strategy, in partnership with commercial fishers and other stakeholders, that is scientifically defensible and based on fisheries-independent stock assessment. Further, the ECO hopes that any policies targeting bycatch or high-grading will be coupled with appropriate enforcement capacity. The ECO looks forward to clarity for government, fishers and the public, and expects transparency and public participation in the development of new policies for Ontario’s commercial fisheries.
Recommendation 1:
The ECO recommends that MNR develop commercial fisheries policies, including an allocation policy, to
increase transparency on how it manages Ontario’s commercial fisheries.
For ministry comments, please see Appendix C.
| Previous section: Part 3 - Biodiversity Matters |
| Next section: Missing in Action: Ontario's oversight of cage aquaculture |
| This is an article from the 2010/11 Annual Report to the Legislature from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. |
Citing This Article:
Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. 2011. "Ontario's Commercial Fisheries Policies." Engaging Solutions, ECO Annual Report, 2010/11. Toronto: The Queen's Printer for Ontario. 26-31.
cateogry:Fisheries
