Anglers on Lake Winnipeg enjoy an ice-fishery like no other. Target Walleye last fall named it North America’s top ice-fishing destination. The reason? The chance to catch trophy walleye, the hungry greenbacks, many 10 pounds and over, that roam the lake under the ice. But will this last? In recent years commercial fishers on Lake Winnipeg have been chasing rapidly declining walleye populations and have begun to target these jumbo fish. This is very bad news for anglers and walleye in Lake Winnipeg. It is killing the geese that lay the golden eggs. The trophy walleye in Lake Winnipeg are…
Author: Scott Forbes
Scott Forbes
Scott Forbes is an ecologist at the University of Winnipeg who works on fish and wildlife. He and his students participated (pro bono) in the ecocertification of the Waterhen Lake fishery.
Manitobans were told recently by two ecocertification agencies, Seafood Watch based in California and Sea Choice in Canada, that fisheries on our great lakes were among the worst managed in the world. The sins included management practices that are badly designed and based on poor data. Why should anglers care what ecocertification agencies think of our commercial fisheries? They should care because it is a shared fishery resource. Bad management means fewer fish for all. What is ecocertification? It is a consumer-driven process that guarantees fish at the grocery store were taken sustainably. It grew out of recognition that the…