Sustainable fisheries management in the Great Lakes: Scientific and operational challenges

Abstract

Fisheries managers seek to sustain Great Lakes' fish populations in a large, complex lake‐watershed ecosystem responding to often competing issues: non‐indigenous species, resource allocation and environmental quality. Within the past 200 years, human activity has caused dramatic changes in the character of this ecosystem. Before the 1900s, the offshore fish communities in each of the Great Lakes were dominated by the piscivorous lake trout and burbot. The current fish fauna of the Great Lakes' basin includes 179 species representing 29 families in 18 orders and two classes of fish. Twenty‐five non‐indigenous fish species have established populations in the Great Lakes' ecosystem. Sustainable management of Great Lakes' fisheries depends on social, economic and ecological factors. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent annually to protect and preserve Great Lakes' fisheries and their associated ecosystems. Management of Great Lakes' fisheries on a species‐by‐species basis is pointless. Recreational fishing provides larger economic benefits on the Great Lakes, compared to commercial fisheries. Further, quota management, even when practiced at levels well below maximum sustainable yield, does not lead to stable fish communities. Management will be constrained more by ecological reality than by economic forces, but ultimately a managed system comprised of both indigenous and non‐indigenous fishes is a logical objective.

Large‐Scale Changes in Bloater Growth and Condition in Lake Huron

“…A key Great Lakes fishery management interest is the prospect of a resurgence of the Lake Huron commercial Bloater fishery (DesJardine et al 1995;McCrimmon 2002). This concern is heightened given recent reports of multiple strong Bloater year-classes since the mid-2000s (O'Brien et al 2015;Roseman et al 2015).…”

“…Nevertheless, Lake Huron Bloaters have exhibited numerous strong recruitment events since 2005 (O'Brien et al 2015;Roseman et al 2015), and these have led to a balanced population age distribution (each of the year-classes from 2008-2011 comprised at least 16% of the trawl catch; C. G. Prichard, unpublished data). Because of the importance of Bloaters in Lake Huron commercial fisheries from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s (Brown et al 1987;Dobiesz et al 2005;Baldwin et al 2009) and again from 1980 to 1999 (Figure 1a), there may be an expectation of commercial harvest as a component of a healthy Bloater population (DesJardine et al 1995;McCrimmon 2002). However, if the earliest accounts of Bloater size described by Koelz (1929) are considered a benchmark, then the current size structure exhibited by Lake Huron Bloaters might actually be considered healthy.…”

Civil Society and Social Movements in Food System Governance

“…In the late 1700s to mid-1800s treaties were signed between Indigenous people and the British and Canadian governments (the settler state). The result of the treaty process was that Indigenous communities' fishing activities were restricted to reserves 3 (MacCrimmon, 2002;Lytwyn, 1990). Settlement of the Great Lakes region following the signing of treaties further restricted resource use by Indigenous people as settler commercial fisheries developed and outcompeted Indigenous and subsistence fisheries (Brendan et al, 2012).…”

“…The importance of traditional foods is not only that they are nutrient-dense, but they also contribute to "cultural food security" due to their central role in maintaining identity, health, and survival (Martin & Amos, 2016;Power, 2008, p. 95). Throughout the Great Lakes region, hunting and harvesting of wild and traditional foods have long been essential to the sustenance and ways of life for First Nations and Métis people 1 (Hudson & Ziegler, 2014;MacCrimmon, 2002;Lytwyn, 1990). Since time immemorial, Indigenous people have lived on the land, making use of the abundant fish and wildlife.…”

“…It also places humans in a dominant position over nature, as manifest in expert-driven and command and control style structures (Berkes, 2010). This is a fundamentally different perspective and relationship with nature than that held by Indigenous people (King, 2014;Koenig, 2005;MacCrimmon, 2002).…”