Annual Summary of Fish Harvesting Activities (2004-2005)

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, 2004 to April 30, 2005. 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

The following is a brief summary of key trends on commercial freshwater fish harvesting activity in FFMC participating jurisdictions for the fiscal year 2004-05. This section is intended to provide highlights on landings, landed and market values, and the number of self-employed harvesters. Please see sections 1 through 6, for detailed data tables and trend analyses.

Section 1: Western Canadian Freshwater Fisheries Summary

• 17,780 metric tonnes (t) of fish were harvested. Landings are down by 13.5% from 2003-04.
• The landed and market values of the harvest are $29.8 million and $55.5 million, respectively.
• Of the total landings of 17,780t, whitefish accounts for 33.1%, up slightly from 32.6% in 2003-04, pickerel accounts for 31.6%, up from 27.3% in 2003-04, mullet accounts for 14.4% down from 18.2% in 2003-04, and northern pike accounts for 10.5% slightly down from 10.9% in 2003-04.
• Landings for most species are down, except for pickerel which is slightly up by 0.1%. Although the average landing price is slightly higher in 2004-05 compared to 2003-04, the total landed value is down by 10.5% due to the drop in landings.
• Of the total landings of 17,780t, Lake Winnipeg (6,364t) accounted for the largest volume distantly followed by Lake Manitoba (967t), Lake Winnipegosis (945t) and Great Slave (907t).
• The FFMC purchased catch from 2,630 self-employed harvesters in 2004-05 compared to 2,919 in 2003-04, a fall of 9.9%. The number of self-employed harvesters falling in the landings range $0 - $10,000 accounted for most of the decrease.

Section 2: Analysis by Jurisdiction

• Manitoba harvesters caught 67.5% of the total harvest and received 79.6% of the landed value which can be attributed to the high value of pickerel. Saskatchewan harvesters caught 17.8% of the harvest and received 10.7% of the landed value. Alberta caught 9.5% and received 6.8%. Northwest Territories caught 5.2% and received 2.9%.
• Of the total 2,629 harvesters, Manitoba has 1,822 (69.3%), Saskatchewan has 590 (22.4%), Northwest Territories has 112 (4.3%), and Alberta has 105 (4.0%).

Alberta:

• 1,681t of fish were harvested. Landings are down by 13.8% from 2003-04.
• Except pickerel, landings for all species are down from the previous year. Whitefish landings, which accounts for 91.2% of provincial landings, are down by 14.3%.
• The landed and market values of the harvest are $2.0 million and $3.7 million, respectively. Total landed value is down by 17.0% from 2003-04.
• Lesser Slave Lake accounted for the largest volume (43.5%) followed by Utikuma Lake (23.6%).
• There are 105 self-employed harvesters in 2004-05 down from 122 (13.9%) in 2003-04. The decrease is mainly caused by the fall in winter season harvesters.
• The number of self-employed summer season harvesters is up by 13.9% in 2004-05 while the number of self-employed winter season harvesters is down by 35.7%. The number of self-employed harvesters is down by 15.9% in both seasons.

Saskatchewan:

• 3,162t of fish were harvested. Landings are down by 9.8% from 2003-04.
• Except for northern pike and mullet, landings for all other species are down in 2004-05. Whitefish accounts for 30.6% of the total harvests, down from 33.6% in 2003-04, followed by mullet at 24.8%, up from 19.3% in 2003-04.
• The landed and market values of the harvest are $3.2 million and $6.2 million, respectively. The total landed value is down by 17.7% in 2004-05.
• Reindeer Lake accounted for the largest volume (12.4% of 3,162t) followed by Ile-a-la Crosse lake (11.8% of 3,162t).
• The number of self-employed harvesters are down from 719 in 2003-04 to 590 in 2004-05 across all categories. The number of self-employed winter season harvesters fell by 25.6% in 2004-05 and that of summer season is up slightly by 0.4%. The number of self-employed harvesters who worked both summer and winter fell by 43.2%.

Manitoba:

• 12,004t of fish were harvested. Landings are down by 14.1% from 2003-04.
• Expect for pickerel, which accounts 41.8% of the total harvests, landings fell for all other major species from 2003-04. Pickerel landings are up by 2.2% in 2004-05, and whitefish, which accounts for 22.2%, are down by 8.4% in 2004-05.
• The landed and market values of the harvest are $23.7 million and $43.7 million, respectively. Total landed value is down by 8.0% from the previous year.
• Lake Winnipeg accounts for most of the catch (53.0% of 12,004t) followed by the Lake Manitoba (8.1% of 12,004t).
• The number of self-employed harvesters is 1,822, down by 5.6% from the previous year. The number of self-employed summer season harvesters is up by 28.8% in 2004-05 and is down by 26.6% for winter season and 41.4% for both seasons’ harvesters.

Northwest Territories:

• 930t of fish were harvested. Landings are down by 2.5% from 2003-04.
• Except for pickerel and lake trout, landings of all other species are down by 15.5% in 2004-05. Whitefish landings accounts for 77.8% of the total harvests 930t and are down by 11.3% in 2004-05. In contrast, pickerel and lake trout which account for 3.6% and 6.6% of 930t, respectively, are up by approximately 7% in 2004-05.
• The landed and market values of the harvest are $0.9 million and $2.0 million, respectively. The total landed value is down by 28.1% from 2003-04.
• Great Slave Lake accounts for most for the landings (97.5% of 930t) followed by Kakisa Lake (2.4% of 930t).
• The number of self-employed harvesters is down from 146 in 2003-04 to 112 in 2004-05. The numbers of both self-employed winter season and both seasons harvesters are down by 54.5% and 31.4%, respectively, while the number of self-employed summer season harvesters remains the same.

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