Lake Erie fishery enters MSC assessment

If certified, this fishery will provide a significant volume of lake fish to markets in North America and globally. The client for the fishery is Ontario Commercial Fisheries’ Association (OCFA) and the certifier plans to complete the assessment by summer 2014.

The six species of lake fish being considered in the assessment are yellow perch, walleye (pickerel), rainbow smelt, lake white fish, white bass and white perch. In 2013, the allowable catch of the four largest commercial fisheries on Lake Erie is approximately 7,000 tonnes of rainbow smelt, 2,700 tonnes of yellow perch, 2,200 tonnes of walleye and 350 tonnes (in Ontario only) of lake white fish.

These six species are caught by vessels based in Ontario using trawls, trap nets and gill nets and by vessels based in the US portion of Lake Erie using trap nets.

Dennis Cartier, acting executive director of the Ontario Commercial Fisheries’ Association, says “OCFA’s long-standing practices as a valued partner with government in the management of the Lake Erie fishery demonstrates our commitment to the sustainability of commercial fishing on the lake. We believe the hard work of our vessels owners, fishers and science personnel has prepared us for an assessment against the MSC standard.”