CANADA’S RENEWABLE RESOURCES: PART 3 CANADA’S FISHERIES CANADA’S RENEWABLE RESOURCES: PART 3

AGENDA Fisheries Overview Types and locations of fish in Canada Methods of fishing in Canada The collapse of Canada’s fisheries Required reading: p. 118-123

FISHERIES: AN OVERVIEW Resources Required: Naturally occurring fish stocks Problems: Overfishing (fish stocks are often mined) Pollution (reduces numbers and can make fish inedible) Climate Change (temperatures change fish habits) Risk Factor: High (many of the world’s fisheries are already emptied)

TYPES AND LOCATIONS OF FISH Canada has two primary regions where our fisheries are found: the Atlantic and Pacific Maritime regions. Within these regions, three different categories of fish make up the majority of the fishery industry. CATEGORY DESCRIPTION EXAMPLES Groundfish Fish that feed on and are caught near the ocean floor cod, pollock, haddock, halibut, flounder, redfish Pelagic (Surface) Fish Fish that feed on and are caught near the ocean surface salmon, herring, tuna, mackerel, capelin Shellfish Mollusks and crustaceans shrimp, lobster, oysters, scallops, mussels

COMMON COMMERCIAL FISH Lobster and Crab (tasty, but pinchy!) B.C. Sockeye Salmon COMMON COMMERCIAL FISH Atlantic Cod (yummy, but mostly gone…) Halibut (they’re big!)

THE GRAND BANKS Red: Shellfish and Mollusks Purple: Groundfish Open Sea (blue): Pelagic Fish The cold Labrador Current and the warmer Gulf Stream meet off the coast of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. This makes the shallows of the Grand Banks one of the world’s best fisheries!

Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

CANADA’S WEST COAST FISHERIES U.S.A. Turquoise: Groundfish Open Sea (blue): Pelagic Fish Similar to the Grand Banks, two different ocean currents meet near the shallows of the Pacific Maritimes. Salmon in particular is one of the most significant catches in this region. (yum!) Warm Alaska Current Cold California Current U.S.A.

British Columbia’s Fisheries

METHODS OF FISHING IN CANADA IN SHORE FISHING OFF SHORE FISHING Small boats with limited gear, usually a self employed fisherman Large ships with a variety of equipment, company owned Accounts for 85% of people employed in fishing, but results in just 10% of the fish caught Represents just 15% of fishers, but accounts for 90% of the fish caught Day trips only No fishing during bad weather Out for 2+ weeks at a time on a trip in any weather Low income, subject to many government regulations Reasonable level of income, often subject to fewer regulations Lobster, shrimp, clams, cod, and haddock are primary targets Harvest cod, sole, halibut, redfish, flounder, tuna, salmon

METHODS OF FISHING IN CANADA TYPE OF NET DESCRIPTION DIAGRAM Purse Seining Circling a school of fish with a net, then drawing the net closed to collect fish Gill Netting Passing fish are caught in the net pulled behind a trawler Otter Trawling A bag-shaped net is dragged along the ocean floor

What happened to all Canada’s fishies? These videos help explain! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fCX6XKzbUY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5wR8Iu2Q00

"(Bottom trawling is) akin to someone plowing up a wildflower meadow, just because they can," says a marine biologist at the UK's York University. Others have compared it to the deforestation of tropical rainforests.

Bottom-trawling's knock-on impacts are best illustrated by the plight of the deep-sea fish, the orange roughy. Populations have been reduced to less than 10% remaining, according to marine scientists. Overfishing has been going on for decades. Tens of thousands of bluefin tuna were caught every year in the North Sea in the 1930s and 1940s. Today, they have disappeared across the seas of Northern Europe. Halibut has suffered a similar fate, almost vanishing from the North Atlantic since the 19th century.

V2 V2 IS FISH FARMING THE ANSWER? Fish farming (aquaculture) now accounts for over 50% of the fish we consume worldwide. The main advantage of this is it reduces the strain on the most consumed species of fish. However, drawbacks include increased fishing of other wild fish (for fish food) and increased pollution and fish-specific diseases.

MORE INFORMATION Check out the following for more: HOMEWORK http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/22/world/oceans-overfishing- climate-change/ HOMEWORK Reading: 118-123 Questions: p. 121-122, #1-5 p. 123, #1-4