Survey Highlights

1. Data Source

The tables and charts presented in this report have been prepared using data from the Ontario component of the 2000 Survey of Recreational Fishing in Canada , a nationally co-ordinated study conducted at five-year intervals in all provinces and territories. The purpose of the survey is to provide data on a wide variety of topics of interest to fisheries managers at the various levels of government. The results presented in this report reflect data specifically defined for the Great Lakes Fishery.

2. Definition of "Great Lakes Areas"

Anglers were asked to provide the name of the lake, river or stream on which they fished, the nearest town or village, the number of days fished, the number of fish caught and kept by species as well as other attitudinal and socio-economic information regarding their fishing activities. Estimates for Great Lakes waters were produced using the geographic coding used to identify each town, grouped according to their proximity to Great Lakes waters. The areas defined by the grouped codes form a continuous border along the system, generally one township deep (8 to 24 kilometres). This definition was used to facilitate comparison with the broader definition used in the United States survey. Individuals fishing tributaries of the Great Lakes further inland than what is defined by the geographic coding are not included as participants in the Great Lakes fishery.

¹Note: In previous reports, Kingston was considered to be the dividing line between the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario . Amherstview is now used to conform to the Province of Ontario 's fisheries management zones.

3. Estimates of Effort and Angler Profile

All estimates of effort and numbers are for adults (18 years of age and over). Averages for each lake are based on the numbers of participants determined for each, while those for the system as a whole are based on the total number of participants on any of the lakes in the system (see Table 1). Information in tables referring to totals for Ontario is based on the activities of Great Lakes anglers only. This information is presented in order to reflect the relative degree of importance associated with the Great Lakes when compared to all fishing activities of Great Lakes anglers in Ontario.

4. Expenditures

Although expenditures were collected on a household basis, allocation for the Great Lakes fishery was based on the fishing activity of individuals. The following procedure was used :

• if all days were spent on the Great Lakes system, all expenditures were assigned to the system. Expenditures for each water body within the system were allocated on the basis of the proportion of time spent on each water body.
• if the days spent on the Great Lakes system represented only a subset of all days in Ontario, the portion of the expenditures to be assigned to the system was estimated using the proportion of activity on the system. Estimates by water body within the system were then allocated on the basis of the amount of activity on each as a percentage of all days on the Great Lakes system.

5. Major Purchases and Investments, Package Deals

In the 1985 report on the Great Lakes fishery, no attempt was made to allocate expenditures made on major purchases and investments or package deals insofar as such purchases could not be "attributed" to Great Lakes fishing. This position was reconsidered in 1990 and was maintained since then. Expenditures for major purchases and investments have been provided using the allocation of expenditure dollars described above. This has been done both for expenditures made in whole or in part for recreational fishing and for the estimated amount directly attributable to recreational fishing. Expenses incurred for package deals have been allocated on the basis of only those packages purchased specifically on each of the Great Lakes.

6. Data Processing and Data Availability

Standard coding and editing procedures used in the 2000 Survey of Recreational Fishing in Canada were used to prepare the data in this report. Data was analysed using SPSS/PC Version 11.5. System files and raw data files can be generated for analysis.

7. Reliability

Because the information provided in this report is a subset of a larger survey, the reliability of the data should be considered when making statements with respect to the data. It should be noted that all data are presented without rounding to the nearest hundred or thousand. This is not intended to reflect the degree of reliability of the data but was done in this way to facilitate production of tables to reflect data generated from the system. A table indicating the reliability of key variables (as coefficients of variation) is provided in Appendix 3. The sampling methodology was identical to 1995. Anglers were chosen from the "Outdoors Card" database instead of the usual telephone interview method. Comparisons with reports prior to 1995 should not be attempted.

8. Highlights

• an estimated 469,128 anglers fished on the Great Lakes in 2000, of which 336,632 were residents of Ontario and 132,496 were visitors to Ontario , primarily from the United States
• Great Lake anglers were mostly male (85%) with an average age of 42 years old whereas female anglers averaged 38 years of age
• over 5.3 million days were spent fishing on the Great Lakes in 2000, with residents averaging 13.1 days, non-resident Canadians 5.4 days and non-resident foreigners 7.1 days
• most of these angler days were spent fishing on Lake Huron (2.5 million) and on Lake Ontario (1.3 million). The same two lakes were the most popular for ice fishing
• Great Lakes anglers caught a total of 41.1 million fish of all species of which 25.5 million were in the Great Lakes System
• of all fish retained on the Great Lakes, perch ranked first in terms of numbers at 2.8 million, followed in order by walleye (1.4 million), smelt (1.1 million) and smallmouth bass (0.6 million)
• anglers retained 31% of all fish caught from the Great Lakes ranging from 12% from Lake Ontario to 44% from Lake St. Clair
• Great Lakes anglers kept over 50% of only four species: splake (65%), smelt (64%), sturgeon (57%) and walleye (54%)
• Great Lakes anglers spent an estimated $390 million on durable goods used in whole or in part for recreational fishing, allocated on the basis of their Great Lakes fishing activity
• of this amount, they attributed $201 million (52%) to their recreational fishing activities on the Great Lakes system in 2000
• they also spent $214 million on goods and services directly related to their fishing activities, averaging $455 per angler

9. Comparisons With 1995 Survey

• The number of anglers who fished on the Great Lakes in 2000 dropped by 15.1% since 1995 mainly due to a decrease of 30.6% in the number of resident Ontario anglers and despite an increase of 96% in the number of visitors to Ontario, primarily from the United States.
• The largest decrease in the number of resident anglers occurred on Lake Superior (46%) followed by Lake Ontario (44%) and the smallest decrease was on the St. Lawrence River (8%).
• There was a decrease of almost 25% in the number of days fished on the Great Lakes of which residents accounted for a 33% drop, since 1995.
• The largest decrease in days fished by resident anglers occurred on the St.-Lawrence River (62%) followed by Lake St. Clair (61%) and Lake Superior (58%) and the smallest decrease was on Lake Huron (13%).
• The number of fish caught on the Great Lakes system decreased by 21.6% with the St. Lawrence river catch decreasing by 56.9% while the Lake Erie catch was the only one showing an increase since 1995 (41.3%). A large portion of this decrease was due to perch harvests which dropped by 41% overall, which includes a 66% drop on the St. Lawrence River and a 60% decrease on Lake St. Clair since 1995.
• The number of fish kept on the Great Lakes system decreased by 41.3% with the St. Lawrence River harvest showing the most dramatic reduction, declining by 74.2%. The Lake Erie catch was the only one showing an increase since 1995 (58.8%). A large portion of the decrease was due to perch harvests that dropped by 38% overall, much of that (80%) occurred on the St. Lawrence River since 1995. The number of walleye kept from Lake Huron increased by 203%. The number of smelts retained increased dramatically on both Lake Erie and Lake Superior.
• Great Lakes anglers increased the amount (to $390 million) spent on durable goods used in whole or in part for recreational fishing by over 37% from 1995. The most notable increase was seen in Lake Erie anglers whose investments escalated by 119% followed by Lake Huron anglers with 105%. Special vehicles, camping equipment and boating equipment were the big sellers, especially among foreign anglers.
• The amount attributable to recreational fishing also increased (to $201 million) by 41.5% with Lake Superior and Lake Erie both showing increases of over 100%.
• Great Lakes anglers spent $214 million on goods and services directly related to their fishing activities, averaging $455 per angler. This was only a 2.8% decrease in overall expenditure. Lake St. Clair showed a 45% increase in expenditures since 1995 followed by Lake Huron with 20%. There was a decrease in all other areas.