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Commercial fishing is part of Ontario’s Great Lakes
heritage and culture, and still goes on in several communities on the
Great Lakes. Many towns, such as Port Dover and Port Stanley on the
Canadian shores of Lake Erie, were founded because of commercial fishing
activities.
The Ministry sets annual quotas (allowable levels of harvest) and issues
licences yearly for the commercial harvest of Great Lakes fish.
Fish caught in Ontario’s Great Lakes is sold at home and in
international markets. All fish caught in Canada for the international
market is inspected according to rules set by the government of Canada.
Fish caught for consumption in Ontario is inspected by the ministries of
Natural Resources and Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs. Great Lakes
fish are a high-quality, valuable food source.
Ontario’s commercial licence holders catch nearly 13,000 metric tonnes
(28 million pounds) of fish each year. The dockside, or wholesale, value
of their catch is $36.4 million. (Dockside value refers to the price
paid for the fish as it comes off the boat and before it is processed
for people to eat.) It’s estimated that once the fish has been processed
and sent to food stores and restaurants in Ontario, the U.S. and around
the world, the industry’s contribution to Ontario’s economy is between
$100 to $150 million (Canadian) dollars. There are more than 500 active
commercial fishing licences in Ontario.
Here are some highlights of Ontario’s Great Lakes commercial fishery:
- The walleye and yellow perch harvest in western
Lake Erie represents 80 per cent of the total value of Ontario’s
commercial fishery and 76 per cent of the province’s total catch.
- Lake Huron produces the largest volume of lake
whitefish in the Great Lakes. It is sold primarily in U.S. and
Ontario markets.
- Thunder and Black bays on Lake Superior account
for 90 per cent of the lake herring commercially harvested in the
Canadian waters of the lake. Lake herring roe is shipped mainly to
the U.S. and Europe.
- A variety of species are fished at the eastern
end of Lake Ontario, including white and yellow perch
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