Annual Summary of Fish Harvesting Activities (2002-2003)

Foreword

The Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation (FFMC) and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Central and Arctic Region (DFO) have, for more than thirty years, co-operated in the development and maintenance of a commercial fisheries database. The harvest data are developed from the FFMC’s purchase ticket, which records the catch and payment for every sales transaction between individual harvesters and the FFMC. The database provides comprehensive information on the commercial fishery (e.g. fish harvesters, lakes, delivery points, species, weeks, months, seasons of fishing, etc.). This data has been used by the FFMC, DFO, and the fisheries management agencies of the participating provinces and territory in the FFMC’s area of operation. Data is also provided on request to other federal, provincial or territorial agencies, universities, and others interested in fisheries. The participating jurisdictions include Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and select parts of the northwest region of Ontario.

This report focuses on commercial freshwater fish harvesting activity in FFMC participating jurisdictions from May 1, 2002 to April 30, 2003. The period covers two distinct fishing seasons, the open water, summer fishery from May through October and the on ice, winter fishery from November through April. Marketing and historical trend information is included.

Section 1 provides harvesting and marketing data. Section 2 provides comparative analyses of each FFMC participating jurisdiction. Sections 3 through 6 provide similar analyses for each FFMC participating jurisdiction. Northwestern Ontario has been excluded from this section in consideration of the low percentage share of the province in freshwater fisheries. However, Northwestern Ontario has been included in Section 1 providing data by jurisdiction.

Persons interested in obtaining more information on commercial freshwater fisheries in FFMC participating jurisdictions may contact:

Policy and Economics Branch
Central & Arctic Region
Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Freshwater Institute
501 University Crescent
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3T 2N6

Sheri Andres - (204) 984-5518

Highlights

Section 1: Western Canadian Freshwater Fisheries Summary

• 22,569 metric tonnes (t) of fish were harvested. Landings are up by 3.12% from 2001-02.
• The landed and market values of the harvest were $41.1 million and $63.9 million, respectively.
• Of the total landings of 22,569t, whitefish accounts for 30.7%%, unchanged from 2001-02, pickerel accounts for 22.8%, down from 23.4% in 2001-02, mullet accounts for 22.7%, unchanged from down from 2001-02, and northern pike accounts for 10.6% down from 11.5% in 2001-02.
• Landings for most species increased, except for northern pike and lake trout which are down by 5.0% and 24.3%, respectively.
• Of the total landings of 22,569t, Lake Winnipeg (6,200t) accounted for the largest volume distantly followed by Lake Winnipegosis (2,444t), Lake Manitoba (2,363t), and Great Slave (1,065t).
• The FFMC purchased catch from 2,833 self-employed harvesters in 2002-03 compared to 2,785 in 2001-02, a rise of 1.72%. The number of self-employed harvesters falling in the landings range $0 - $10,000 accounted for most of the increase.

Section 2: Analysis by Jurisdiction

• Manitoba harvesters caught 66.1% of the total harvest and received 76.5% of the landed value which can be attributed to the high value of pickerel. Saskatchewan harvesters caught 19.0% of the harvest and received 12.5% of the landed value. Alberta caught 10.1% and received 7.7%. Northwest Territories caught 4.8% and received 3.2%.
• Of the total 2,831 harvesters, Manitoba has 1,858 (65.6%), Saskatchewan has 590 (24.8%), Northwest Territories has 112 (5.2%), and Alberta has 105 (4.4%).

Alberta:

• 2,274t of fish were harvested. Landings are up by 22.8% from 2001-02.
• Except whitefish, landings for all species are down from the previous year. Whitefish, which accounts for 89.5% of provincial landings, are up by 30.9%.
• The landed and market values of the harvest are $3.2 million and $5.0 million, respectively. Total landed value increased by 32.9% from 2001-02.
• Lake Utikuma accounted for the largest volume (53.3%) followed by Lesser Slave Lake Lake (41.9%).
• There are 124 self-employed harvesters in 2002-03 down from 139 (10.8%) in 2001-02. The decrease was caused by the fall in both winter and summer seasons harvesters.
• The number of self-employed summer and winter seasons’ harvesters are down by 18.6% and 19.6% in 2002-03, respectively while the number of self-employed harvesters in both seasons is up by 4.0%.

Saskatchewan:

• 4,284t of fish were harvested. Landings are down by 3.2% from 2001-02.
• Except for pickerel and mullet, landings for all other major species decreased in 2002-03. Whitefish accounts for 32.8% of the total harvests, down from 33.3% in 2001-02. Mullet accounts for 26.4%, up from 24.4% in 2001-02.
• The landed and market values of the harvest are $5.1 million and $10.0 million, respectively. The total landed value is up by 1.0% in 2002-03.
• Reindeer accounted for the largest volume (11.1% of 4,284t) followed by Ile-a-la Crosse (8.9% of 4,284t).
• The number of self-employed harvesters is up by 10.7% to 703 in 2002-03 across all categories. The number of self-employed winter season harvesters is up by 17.0% in 2002-03 and that of summer season is down slightly by 1.6%. The number of self-employed harvesters who worked both summer and winter was up by 30.8%.

Manitoba:

• 14,903t of fish were harvested. Landings are up by 3.4% from 2001-02.
• Of the major species, landings for whitefish, pickerel, and perch are down while landings for mullet, northern pike, and sauger are up in 2001-02. Pickerel, which accounts 41.8% of the total harvests, landings fell by 1% in 2002-03. On the other hand, mullet, which accounts for 22.2%, landings were up by 3.5% in 2002-03.
• The landed and market values of the harvest are $31.4 million and $46.7 million, respectively. Total landed value is down by less than 1% from the previous year.
• Lake Winnipeg accounts for most of the catch (41.6% of 14,903t) followed by the Lake Winnipegosis (16.4% of 14,903t).
• The number of self-employed harvesters is 1,858, up by less than 1% from the previous year. The number of self-employed summer season harvesters is up by 1.2% in 2002-03 and is down by 4.4% for winter season. The number of self-employed harvesters for both seasons is up by 4.5% in 2002-03.

Northwest Territories:

• 1,085t of fish were harvested. Landings are down by 2.5% from 2001-02.
• Whitefish accounts for 72.5% of the total harvests 1,086t and lake trout accounts for 3.7% of the total harvests 1,086t are down by 16.5% and 37.5% in 2002-03, respectively.
• The landed and market values of the harvest are $1.3 million and $2.2 million, respectively. The total landed value is down by 12.7% from 2001-02.
• Great Slave Lake accounts for most for the landings (98.1% of 1,086t).
• The number of self-employed harvesters is down from 151 in 2001-02 to 146 in 2002-03. The numbers of both self-employed winter season and both seasons harvesters are down by 18.8% and 1.7%, respectively, while the number of self-employed summer season harvesters is up by 11.4% in 2002-03.

Annual Summary of Harvesting Activities: At a Glance

Note: * To protect the identities of harvesters where the number of harvesters is three or less, the “rule of three” <4 (less than four) is used.

Annex: Western Canadian Freshwater Fisheries - List of Species

Common Name

Genus Name

Carp

Cyprinus carpio

Goldeye

Hiodon alosoides

Inconnu

Stenodus leucichthys

Lake Trout

Salvelinus namaycush

Mullet

Catostomus commersonii

Northern Pike

Esox lucius

Perch

Perca flavescens

Pickerel

Sander vitreus

Sauger

Sander canadensis

Tullibee

Coregonus artedii

White Bass

Morone chrysops

Whitefish

Coregonus clupeaformis