Canada’s Commercial Fishery

Canada’s Commercial Fishing Industry:

• In 2011, over 875,000 tonnes of commercial fish was harvested, generating $7 billion.

• $4 billion in Canadian seafood was exported to other countries

• There are 11,000 fishing related businesses in Canada, (includes aquaculture, fish processing, ocean services, and engineering, among others)

Types and Locations of FishCategory Description Examples

GroundfishEat and Caught near ocean floor

Cod, Pollock, haddock, halibut, redfish

Pelagic Fish

Eat and Caught near the surface.

Salmon, herring, mackerel, tuna

Shellfish Molluscs and crustaceans.

Shrimp, lobster, oyster, scallop, mussels

East Coast Fishery• Includes fishing near the

Atlantic Ocean and the Grand Banks

• The Grand Banks are of the richest fishing grounds in the world

Species include:• Cod• Haddock• Scallop • Lobster

Mixing of currents stirs up nutrients

Shallow water lets sunlight reach bottom allowing phytoplankton

(sm. Plant life) to grow

Why?

West Coast Fishery• Includes area off the coast

of British Columbia in the Pacific Ocean

• Salmon caught in 1990 = • Salmon caught in 2005 =

Species Include:• Salmon• Herring • Tuna• Shellfish

Freshwater Fishery• Includes Great Lakes, Lake

Winnipeg, and Great Slave Lake.

• There are about 13 species of fish that are being harvested commercially including:– Lake trout– northern pike– Pickerel– Whitefish

Threats to Commercial Fishing:

Overfishing• Simply means catching

too many fish• Bycatch is when nets

accidently catch small fish or other marine species

• The bycatch is simply thrown overboard

Bycatch is often 80 per cent of the stock

Commercial Fishing Solutions:

• MORATORIUM – when government puts a freeze on fishing (bans all fishing)

• Extending marine jurisdiction (boundaries) (e.g. by 200 nautical miles to push foreign factory ships off many of the prime fishing and breeding grounds—1976)

• QUOTAS – when government reduces the amount of fish being caught

Helpful Vocabulary

• Moratorium – a ban on all fishing. This is decided by the government.

• Fish stocks – the population of fish• DFO – The Department of Fisheries and

Oceans, Federal Government.• Quota – the amount of fish allowed to be

caught by the fishing industry, set by the DFO