Canadian article on new Lake Erie limits

[JBL]

Some of you may find this interesting. Sounds like the commercial fishermen in Canada are pretty cheesed off over having their catch limits drastically reduced this year. The bad guy in all this? Those evil Americans! Sounds like they think we fudged the books on what's left in the lake after they get done dredging the lake with their nets. (link below)

http://www.southam.com/windsorstar/news/010409/793553.html

[Airwave(OH)]

This is what we expected to hear, I didn't think they would say "It's only fair since we've been raping the lake for years" I only saw in that article that one guy layed off 2 people and another layed off 1. I'm sure there will be more but mostly it just sounds like a little crying ,for now. Which I totally understand, we would be too.Actually we(some) are crying too. Maybe in time the owners will see they won't have to work as hard to get the numbers if there's more to choose from. Am I dreaming here???I don't know, but I'm an optimist for the most part.

If your not part of the solution
Your part of the problem..

Always liked that one.^^^^^^

[THUMPER]

Good positive statement. Looking at it also I see a diminished supply will also drive the prices up. That way the fisherman do not have to work as hard to make a buck.

[curt quesnell]

it was interesting to read about how the groups get together
and agree on harvest quotas. how ontario gives the bulk of
their quota to the gill netters. while i think this is the
dumbest thing they could do, its not up to me.

before you feel sorry for the "victims" of the reduced quota
for commercial netters remember these guys are still in a job that hasnt existed for near 40 years on the american side of lake erie.

i think all commercial gill netting for game fish on both sides
of lake erie, and every where else should be stopped immediately
,never to begin again. but i also dont pretend that ontario
canada is gonna pay attention to what i have to say.

i hope that the counts are correct, the quotas are obeyed
and that tourism thrives on the U.S side of lake erie for
a long long time.

i am amazed that they can agree on numbers and quotas, they
must have some pretty uncontestable numbers they are working
with.

hows that for positive?

curt quesnell

[Tracy]

How do 30 commercial fishing vessels with crews of 3 to 6 and a few cleaning and packing houses equate to 1000's of jobs lost in this industry. I would bet that there are less than 500 total jobs in the entire industry in Canada on Erie. And this article speaks of 3 being lost.

We do not want or need the Canadians to put an end to commercial fishing. We just want them to ban gill netting on the Ontario side. Gill nets are indiscriminate killers of all fish. We only hear about the numbers of walleye and perch that are taken in their nets. What about all of the smallmouth, stealhead, sturgeon, and lake trout? And where have all of the nothern pike and muskies gone?

The 56% reduction on walleye was during the spawn period only. The total sportcatch in Ontario by Ontarian anglers is less than 100,000 fish per year, so I guess that the article should have read, nearly all of the Canadian quota of walleye is alloted to the commercial fleet, witch by the way is 75% of the total walleye harvest on all of Lake Erie. Our sport driven fishery accounts for 25% of the harvest and 100's of thousands of jobs and billions and billions of $$$ to the economies on our shoreline. Things could be the same across the water, but the operators of those 30 boats have convinced the MNR and the entire country that there value to the economy far exceeds any other potential. These guys have even blocked opperators of sportboats from dockage in the few harbors that are available.

It would have been nice if the author of this article was more inclined to state all of the facts on this issue, not just the oppinions of a few commercial opperators who have enjoyed a free ride on Erie for the past few decades, and who are now facing these more strick regulations. Mostly because of their inability to regulate themselves.

Thanks for the link to this article,
Tracy

[THUMPER]

An interesting article........

A. GREAT LAKES ISSUES

1. Introduction

Ontario's Great Lakes commercial fishery is one of the largest freshwater fisheries in the world. It has
an average annual landed value of over $40 million and an overall impact on the Ontario and Canadian
economies of $250 million, and possibly as much as $500 million. Ninety percent of production is
exported, bringing in new dollars. In addition, the Great Lakes support the largest freshwater sports
fisheries in the world. In Ontario alone, 800,000 people a year sports fish on the Great Lakes,
contributing $850 million to the economy. The sports and commercial fisheries combined generate over
20,000 person years of employment per year.

Given the economic significance of the freshwater fisheries, the rapidly changing ecology of the Great
Lakes and the fact that they are international waters falling under federal responsibility, stakeholders
asked why DFO invests so little of its resources in the Great Lakes.

2. Funding for Great Lakes Programs

The Ontario Commercial Fisheries Association (OCFA) estimated that Ontario taxpayers support over
42% of DFO's overall budget; however, less than 2% of DFO's budget for fisheries programs is
allocated back to Ontario. The same group also questioned the relatively small amount of funding
allocated for small craft harbours, associated with commercial fishing, compared to recreational and
coastal fishing harbours.

The OCFA claims that less than 2% of DFO's total expenditures in science and research is directed
toward fisheries work on the Great Lakes. DFO research is critical to understanding nutrient levels
required to support good fisheries, the impact of exotic species, to measuring the effects of toxic
chemicals, and to setting targets for the reduction of acid rain. The OCFA recommended that DFO
maintain its responsibilities for Great Lakes fisheries and inland waters at a meaningful level and that
science and research budgets be increased.

Recommendation 9

The Committee recommends that the government take immediate measures to address the
current imbalance in the budgetary allocations for fisheries programs in the Great Lakes
Region, bearing in mind the significant contribution these freshwater fisheries make to the
Canadian economy. Particular attention must be given to increasing levels of funding for
science and research in these fisheries.

3. Sea Lampr