Annual Summary of Fish Harvesting Activities (2006-2007)

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, 2006 to April 30, 2007. 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

• 16,854 metric tonnes (t) of fish were harvested. Landings are up by 0.7% from 2005-06.
• The landed and market values of the harvest are $30.9 million and $55.5 million, respectively.
• Of the total landings of 16,854t, whitefish accounts for 32.1%, up from 31.9% in 2005-06, pickerel accounts for 38.1%, up from 35.6% in 2005-06, mullet accounts for 11.3% down from 15.8% in 2005-06, and northern pike accounts for 10.0% up from 7.9% in 2005-06.
• As opposed to a slight increase in total landings in 2006-07 by 0.7% compared to 2005-06, the total landed value is up by 10.1% due to the increase in price.
• Of the total landings of 16,854t, Lake Winnipeg (6,354t) accounted for the largest volume distantly followed by Lake Winnipegosis (1,119t), Lake Manitoba (1,093t) Lesser Slave (678t) and Lesser Great Slave (539t).
• The FFMC purchased catch from 2,239 self-employed harvesters in 2006-07 compared to 2,395 in 2005-06, a fall of 6.5%. The number of self-employed harvesters falling in the landings range $0 - $10,000 accounted for most of the fall.

Section 2: Analysis by Jurisdiction

• Manitoba harvesters caught 69.8% of the total harvest and received 81.1% of the landed value which can be attributed to the high value of pickerel. Saskatchewan harvesters caught 15.2% of the harvest and received 8.9% of the landed value. Alberta caught 11.6% and received 8.2%. Northwest Territories caught 3.4% and received 1.8%.
• Of the total 2,629 harvesters, Manitoba has 1,714 (76.7%), Saskatchewan has 366 (16.4%), Northwest Territories has 77 (3.4%), and Alberta has 77 (3.4%).

Alberta:

• 1,957t of fish were harvested. Landings are down by 24.4% from 2005-06.
• Except pickerel, landings for all species are up. Whitefish landings, which accounts for 94.4% of provincial landings, are up by 28.1% in 2006-07.
• The landed and market values of the harvest are $2.5 million and $4.9 million, respectively. Total landed value is up by 33.9% from 2005-06.
• Utikuma Lake accounted for the largest volume (43.7%) followed by Lesser Slave Lake (34.6%).
• There are 77 self-employed harvesters in 2006-07 down from 86 (10.5%) in 2005-06. The decrease is mainly caused by the fall in winter season harvesters.
• The number of self-employed summer season harvesters is up by 45.8% in 2006-07 while the number of self-employed winter season harvesters is down by 48.6%. The number of self-employed harvesters is down by 11.1% in both seasons.

Saskatchewan:

• 2,556t of fish were harvested. Landings are down by 7.2% from 2005-06.
• Except for whitefish, landings for all other species are down. Whitefish accounts for 41.2% of the total harvests, up from 35.9% in 2005-06, followed by pickerel at 17.4%, up from 17.0% in 2005-06.
• The landed and market values of the harvest are $2.7 million and $6.1 million, respectively. The total landed value is down by 2.5% in 2006-07.
• Reindeer Lake accounted for the largest volume (17.9% of 2,556t) followed by Ile-a-la Crosse lake (8.9% of 2,556t).
• The number of self-employed harvesters is down from 506 in 2005-06 to 366 in 2006-07 across all categories. The number of self-employed harvesters both in winter season and summer season fell by 35.0% and 14.6% in 2006-07, respectively

Manitoba:

• 11,758t of fish were harvested. Landings are up by 1.2% from 2005-06.
• Of the major species, the landings for whitefish, sauger and mullet are down. Pickerel landings, which accounts for 50.6% of the total landings, are up by 9.5% in 2006-07, and whitefish, which accounts for 17.4%, are down by 10.3% in 2006-07.
• The landed and market values of the harvest are $25.1 million and $43.1 million, respectively. Total landed value is up by 10.5% from 2005-06.
• Lake Winnipeg accounts for most of the catch (54.0% of 11,758t) followed by the Lake Winnipegosis (9.5% of 11,758t).
• The number of self-employed harvesters is 1,714, slightly up by 0.4% from 2005-06. The number of self-employed summer season harvesters is down by 62.2% in 2006-07 and is up by 152.2% for winter season and 15.6% for both seasons’ harvesters.

Northwest Territories:

• 565t of fish were harvested. Landings are down by 37.3% from 2005-06.
• Except for pickerel, landings of all other species are down by 38.8% in 2006-07. Whitefish landings accounts for 80.2% of the total harvests 565t and are down by 37.8% in 2006-07. In contrast, lake trout and pickerel which account for 6.5% and 5.1% of 565t, respectively, are down by 12.0 in 2006-07.
• The landed and market values of the harvest are $0.6 million and $1.5 million, respectively. The total landed value is down by 30.2% from 2005-06.
• Great Slave Lake accounts for most for the landings (95.4% of 565t) followed by Kakisa Lake (2.6% of 565t).
• The number of self-employed harvesters is down from 95 in 2005-06 to 77 in 2006-07. The numbers of self-employed winter season harvesters is up from 6 in 2005-06 to 61 in 2006-07. On the other hand, the number of self-employed summer season harvesters is down from 65 in 2005-06 to 5 in 2006-07. The number of self-employed harvesters harvesting both seasons is down from 24 in 2005-06 to 11 in 2006-07.

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