Manitoba aims to restore fish supply in Lake Winnipeg by buying back quotas, changing net sizes

The Manitoba government is trying to replenish the fish stock in Lake Winnipeg by reducing the number of allowable catches, andchangingthe mesh size on fishing nets.

The province says it has bought back 126 quotas from 90 fishers, representing almost 525,000 kilograms of fish that can no longer be caught commercially.

Quotasdetermine how muchfish can be taken from the water each year by commercial fishers.

It will also increasethe minimum size ofnetting to three-and-a-half incheson the lake's South Basin and channel areas, from three and one-quarter inches, so more small fish can evade capture from commercial fishing.

The size of Manitoba's fish stock has beendepleting due to overfishing, and these regulation changes will movethe body of water closer to a tenablepopulation,said Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires.

"We know that we're moving in the right direction," she said. "We still have a ways to go and we will be announcing a second phase of a voluntary quota buyback program in the days to come."

Quotas still above sustainable levels

The province's commercial fishers have been able to take 7.3 million kilogramsof fish from its largest lake each year, but sustainability experts say it should only be around 5.3 million kilograms to keep the stock at a healthy rate.

The quotas sold back to the province were valued at almost $5.5 million. The fishers were paid between $4-6 a pound, a news release said.

The government initially wanted to set the minimum netting size at three and three-quarter inches, but it altered the size andimplementation date based on feedback fromfishers. They will have touse the new netting forthe 2020 commercial fishing season.

"We want them to spawn at least one or two seasons before they end up in the net," Squires said.

Saving fish long overdue

As of April 2020, any walleye or saugermust be at least 35 cmin length to be taken fromLakeWinnipeg, theWinnipegRiver below the Pine Falls dam, Red River below the Lockport Dam or Saskatchewan River below the Grand Rapids dam.

University of Winnipeg fisheries biologist Scott Forbes told CBC News in April that these moves from government have been a long time coming.

But Forbes said more needs to be done to protect thefishery.

"We don't actually manage the walleyein Lake Winnipeg. That's the problem there," he said.