Natural resources FISHING

Fishing Canada’s oldest industry We have the longest coastline in the world We have more lakes than the rest of the world combined (60% of all lakes are in Canada) 80% of catch is exported to 80 countries $6.5 billion in fish & seafood exports in 2015 11.5 ft long sturgeon, 880 lbs. Caught in the Fraser River.

3 Categories of Fish Groundfish Are caught near the ocean floor Category Description Examples Groundfish Are caught near the ocean floor Cod, halibut, haddock Pelagic fish Are caught near the surface Salmon, tuna, herring Shell fish Animals without backbones & have protective shells Lobster, shrimp, oysters, scallops

Definitions Fishery: a place where fish are caught for commercial purposes Inshore fishery: commercial fishing done close to shore in small, independently owned boats Offshore fishery: commercial fishing done farther from shore in larger company-owned boats

Value of Our commercial Fisheries, 2015 Pacific Inland Atlantic Total (Canada) Number of registered fishing vessels 2 2,396 114 15,400 17,910 Total volume of landings (metric tonnes) 129,670 27,965 687,967 845,602 Total value of landings $355,833, 000 $64,168, 000 $2,840,228, 000 $3,260,229,000 http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/stats/facts-Info-16-eng.htm

Trawling One of the most common methods of fishing in the world. It involves towing one or more trawl nets behind a boat or in between two boats. Nets differ by their mesh size.

Longlines Set horizontally on the ocean floor or set near the surface Tens of kilometres long and carry thousands of hooks. Baited hooks are attached to the longline by short lines called snoods that hang off the mainline.

Dredging Towed dredges are used to collect shellfish such as scallops from the sea floor. The dredge is towed along the bottom until it is full, then lifted onto the boat and the contents tipped out.

Problem with trawling and longlines Bycatch : catching the wrong thing in your nets Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles caught by accident every year Over 300,000 small whales, dolphins, and porpoises dying each year from entanglement in fishing gears Millions of sharks are caught every year

Problem with dredging They are incredibly damaging to the seabed,. They destroy whole ecosystems and coral reefs This is a picture of a reef that has been badly damaged by scallop dredgers

Whaling in Canada Ban on commercial whaling in 1986 (Japan, Norway, Iceland still do it) Canada allows its northern Indigenous groups to hunt whales on a small scale

Grand Banks Historically the Grand Banks have been one of the world's richest fishing grounds. Most parts of the Grand Banks are shallow - less than 50 m deep Light can reach the sea bed and favours reproduction of sea life. Several currents meet here and there is an upswelling of minerals & nutrients

East Coast Fishery Decline in Atlantic fishery since 1990 Decline due to: Overfishing by Canadians Improved technology Foreign factory ships Climate change

Factory Ships The nets of the giant trawlers from took unprecedented amounts of fish, which they would quickly process and deep-freeze. The trawlers worked around the clock, in all but the very worst weather. In an hour they would haul up to 200 tonnes of fish; twice the amount a typical 16th century ship would catch in an entire season.

Cod Timeline 1497 - English explorer John Cabot reported lots of cod 1600s - 1700s - Newfoundland makes lots of $$$ from cod 1954 - the first factory-freezer trawler revolutionized fishing 1974 - cod stocks were in desperate shape. Governments worldwide responded with huge subsidies to assist fishermen. 1976 - in response to declining fish stocks, most countries passed a 200-mile fishing limit. 1992 -a moratorium on fishing was declared, putting 35,000 fishermen out of work. 2003 - Atlantic cod populations were assigned endangered status 2004 - Canada allows a limited cod fishery but with very restrictive catch limits

Capture of the atlantic cod, in million tons

1992 cod moratorium Under police protection, Fisheries Minister John Crosbie announced a moratorium on cod fishing This ended a 500 year industry A mob of angry fishermen had tried to force their way into the hotel ballroom where he was making his speech, and Crosbie was forced to make a hasty retreat. This Island That We Cling To The National July, 2012 (skip to 2:00-9:00) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSqDFT2z0b8

What happened to the Cod? HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=BRJY6_3YTEO STOP AT 8:17

Consequences of the collapse 40,000 people lost their jobs and had to go on welfare (12% of province’s labour force) Thousands of Newfoundlanders moving out to Alberta to find work Many fishermen learned how to be shellfish fishermen instead In the next decade, the province's population dropped by a record 10%

Some are finding alternatives Tony Doyle, a sixth-generation fisherman from Bay de Verde, Nfld. fishes snow crab because of the cod moratorium

Tragedy of the Commons If nobody owns the resource and everyone is allowed to use it, then people just use it as much as they want. Just use it as much as you can before someone else does or you will miss out on the bounty. If people are able to organize private property rights or work together through communal ownership, then they can use the resource for longer.

Newfoundland’s northern cod making a comeback Harvesters know the value of science-based policy Cod stocks off eastern Newfoundland and Labrador continue to slowly rebound, but are still in the “critical zone.” Union representing fishermen and plant workers, however, wants to immediately expand the relatively small commercial cod fishery https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/03/27/newfoundlands-northern-cod-making-a-comeback-25-years-after-commercial-fishing-ban.html

West Coast Fishing Industry

Sport Fishing Kenora, Ont.. Saskatchwan Arctic Char, Nunavut

aquaculture Fish raised either on land in tanks or in cornered-off sections of the ocean “Fish farming”

Wild Fish PROS CONS Contain fewer toxins than farmed fish Better taste (debateable) CONS Harvesting can cause destruction of ecosystems and sea floor Result in unintended bycatch Less control over ocean pollution

Farmed Fish Pros: Cheaper Price Higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than wild fish, farmers can control their diets Reduce pressure on wild stock High yields Atlantic salmon farm

Farmed Fish Cons: High concentration can lead to growth of disease and parasites To control disease, farmed fish are often given antibiotics