Natural resources Fishing

Fishing Canada’s oldest industry We have the longest coastline in the world We have more lakes than the rest of the world combined (60% of all lakes are in Canada) 80% of catch is exported to 80 countries ($4.7 billion 2002) 11.5 ft long sturgeon, 880 lbs. Caught in the Fraser River.

3 Categories of Fish Groundfish Category Description Examples Groundfish Feed and are caught near the ocean floor Cod, halibut, haddock Pelagic fish Feed and are caught near the surface Salmon, tuna, herring Shell fish Animals without backbones & had protective shells Lobster, shrimp, oysters, scallops

Definitions Fishery: a place where fish are caught for commercial purposes Inshore Fishery: commercial fishing done close to shore in small, independently owned boats Offshore Fishery: commercial fishing done farther from shore in larger company-owned boats

Trawling One of the most common methods of fishing in the world. It involves towing one or more trawl nets behind a boat or in between two boats. Nets differ by their mesh size.

Longlines Set horizontally on the ocean floor or set near the surface Tens of kilometres long and carry thousands of hooks. Baited hooks are attached to the longline by short lines called snoods that hang off the mainline.

Problem with trawling and longlines Bycatch : catching the wrong thing in your nets Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles caught by accident every year Over 300,000 small whales, dolphins, and porpoises dying each year from entanglement in fishing gears Millions of sharks are caught every year

Dredging Towed dredges are used to collect shellfish such as scallops from the sea floor. The dredge is towed along the bottom until it is full, then lifted onto the boat and the contents tipped out.

Problem with dredging They are incredibly damaging to the seabed,. They destroy whole ecosystems and coral reefs This is a picture of a reef that has been badly damaged by scallop dredgers

Value of Our Fisheries, 2012 Pacific Inland Atlantic Total (Canada) Number of registered fishing vessels 2 2,551 100 16,189 18,840 Total volume of landings (metric tonnes) 129,519 29,326 673,923 832,768 Total value of landings ($'000) 213,123 67,340 1,907,514 2,187,977

Value of Different Types of Fish Atlantic Pacific Total (Canada) Total Volume of Landings (metric tonnes) 673,923 129,519 803,442 Groundfish 79,865 89,297 169,162 Pelagics 157,622 32,346 189,968 Shellfish 419,689 7,862 427,551 Other 16,747 14 16,761 Total Value of Landings ($'000) 1,907,514 213,123 2,120,637 163,263 95,344 258,607 107,524 37,620 145,144 1,623,116 80,157 1,703,273 13,611 2 13,613

Whaling in Canada Ban on commercial whaling in 1986 (Japan, Norway, Iceland still do it) Canada allows its northern Indigenous groups to hunt whales on a small scale

Grand Banks Historically the grand banks have been one of the world's richest fishing grounds. Most parts of the grand banks are less than 50 m deep Light can reach the sea bed and favours reproduction of sea life. Beyond the banks, the ocean floor drops to depths over 2,000 m

East Coast Fishery Decline in Atlantic fishery since 1990 Decline due to: Overfishing by Canadians Improved technology Foreign factory ships Changes in natural conditions (climate change)

Cod Timeline 1497 - English explorer John Cabot reported lots of cod 1600s - 1700s - Newfoundland prospers from cod fishery 1954 - The first factory-freezer trawler in the world could catch and process as much as 600 tons of fish in a single day. They were able to fish around the clock, year-round and in all but the worst of weather. 1974 - Cod stocks were in desperate shape. Governments worldwide responded with huge subsidies to assist fishermen. 1976 - In response to declining fish stocks, most countries passed a 200-mile fishing limit. 1992 -A moratorium on fishing was declared, putting 35,000 fishermen out of work. 2003 - Atlantic cod populations were assigned endangered status 2004 - Canada allows a limited cod fishery but with very restrictive catch limits

The nets of the giant trawlers from took unprecedented amounts of fish, which they would quickly process and deep-freeze. The trawlers worked around the clock, in all but the very worst weather. In an hour they would haul up to 200 tonnes of fish; twice the amount a typical 16th century ship would catch in an entire season.

Capture of the atlantic cod, in million tons

under police protection, fisheries minister John Crosbie announced a moratorium on cod fishing A mob of angry fishermen had tried to force their way into the hotel ballroom where he was making his speech, and Crosbie was forced to make a hasty retreat.

What happened to the Cod? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5wR8Iu2Q00 8:17

Tony Doyle, a sixth-generation fisherman from Bay de Verde, Nfld Tony Doyle, a sixth-generation fisherman from Bay de Verde, Nfld., fishes snow crab because of the cod moratorium

Consequences of the collapse 40,000 people lost their jobs and had to go welfare (12 % of province’s labour force) Thousands of Newfoundlanders moving out to Alberta to find work Many fishermen learned how to be shellfish fishermen instead In the next decade, the province's population dropped by a record 10 per cent.

West Coast Fishing Industry

Wild Fish Pros Cons Contain fewer toxins than farmed fish Better taste Harvesting can cause destruction of ecosystems and sea floor Result in unintended bycatch Less control over ocean pollution

aquaculture Fish raised under supervision, either on land in tanks or in cornered-off sections of the ocean

Farmed Fish Pros: High fish yields Reduce pressure on wild stock Atlantic salmon farm

Farmed Fish Cons: high concentration can lead to growth of disease and parasites if farmed fish escape, they could mate with wild fish and endanger native species

Choosing sustainable seafood Avoid - wild cavier, king crab, haddock, wild scallops, farmed salmon, farmed shrimp, red snapper, tuna Best choice - bass, clams, dungeness crab, pacific herring and halibut, wild pacific salmon, northern shrimp, farmed trout, farmed mussels and oysters

Cataclysm in the fisheries http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1769469338 16:03