A marine researcher at the University of Dalhouse has been deeply immersed in the largest commercial water fishing fleet in North America, in the great Lakes of Ontario, in a new documentary that explores the challenges and opportunities faced by local fisheries to maintain the industry.
Last boat on the lake It tells a story driven by the character of commercial fishing, some of them multigenerational, in the great lakes and how much they contribute to the local food chain in Ontario and throughout Canada, said its creator, Hannah Harrison.
“When I arrived in Canada for the first time in 2019, someone told me about the fisheries of the great lakes and I thought, ‘Wow, I had no idea’, and as a result, I am not the only one who had never heard of that,” said Harrison, an associated professor at the Nova Scotia University.
“All who had gone to Port Dover, Port Stanley or Wheatley and had fresh fish … They had no idea where that fish came from, although sometimes they are in sight of commercial fishing ships.”
The one -hour documentary, which can be seen free on YouTube by clicking here, follows the fishermen along the Ontario, Erie and Huron lakes. It was done in association with Saugeen First Nation, located in the Bruce Peninsula, and analyzes the indigenous and non -indigenous aspects of the fishing industry.
Harrison, who grew up in a family salmon fishing in Alaska, said he was surprised to see how little the inhabitants of the ontians knew about their seafood of local origin.
“When we think where food comes from, we think of the beautiful agricultural landscapes that we have in Ontario, but we also have this really surprising commercial water commercial fishing. However, we really do not think that Ontario is a fishing place, we think about it as an agricultural place,” he said.
“It is an opportunity to really appreciate this unique harvest industry. I felt forced to rebuild that relationship of what the inhabitants of Ontario know about their local commercial fishing.”
Seasonal work, development cause conflicts
The film also deepens the problems that local fishermen are having to recruit the next generation of workers in the hyperlocal industry.
Rick Misner, who is from Port Dover, on the east side of Lake Erie, is among the many fishermen who appear in the documentary. Misner believes that these challenges are partly due to factors such as seasonal work and changes in the industry.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult to find people to come to work because they don’t really make a living,” said Misner, 76, who has been fishing for more than six decades.
“We only work four months a year and that is all we have in fishing. It is quite difficult to make a living in four months.”
Misner said that another challenge is the changes within the fish population due to the weather and other environmental factors. The end of Lake Misner captures smells, which according to him has become more difficult to retain in the last 25 years, since its population has “decreased drastically.”
Another issue in the documentary is how much infrastructure development along the coasts is affecting access to the lakes, Harrison said. The coast, which provide the necessary space and public services for fishermen to discharge fish or bring ice to their boats, face pressure to attract other industries such as tourism, he added.
“For example, a family of fishing in Port Colborne who delivered fish to the same place for generations told me that they returned and found that a cruise terminal was being built and that they were no longer allowed to deliver, “he said.
“That rate of change in what we are prioritizing along our coastal fronts can really be a challenge if it really depends on having that safe and reliable access, day after day.”
Misner said that although there has not been much interruption in his fishing area, he knows that in other regions such as Port Stanley, people are approaching the water. With him come noise and smell complaints, causing conflicts between the residents of these communities and fishermen.
“Coastal developers want to be close to water, but they want us to change, and that is not always easy,” he said. “When you take away the earth where ships used to tie, those ships need to find another place to operate and exist.”
Harrison expects the documentary to help Ontario inhabitants to appreciate the value of local fisheries, especially at a time when Canadians seek to buy and eat premises in front of threatened American tariffs.
It also urges people to consider how zoning and additional development can work together with commercial fishing to ensure that everyone’s interests are fulfilled.
“The vast majority of the fish trapped in the region of the great lakes are consumed there, and that also includes the US. It is something that we could really be proud in Ontario, which we are feeding this part of the world with our own product.”
