Commercial fishing industry of Windsor area is struggling under the worst combined quotas for perch and walleye in history for commercial fishermen who work in Lake Erie off Essex County and Chatham-Kent. Nino Barraco, a second-generation commercial fisherman, said that the authority is squeezing them out and so they are protesting against the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Barraco, 57, has been fishing for 40 years. One fishing licence was enough to keep him and his crew of four going for years. But with dropping catch limits, fisherman need multiple licences to survive. Barraco is down to a three-man crew and has to run his tug enough to keep the workers but not enough to catch his limit for the year.
He said that the province should just buy out the commercial fishermen if they don’t want the industry to continue. Commenting on the present situation Ministry spokesman John Cooper said that the ministry supports a commercial fishing industry in Lake Erie. It represents about 80 percent of the commercial fishing industry in Ontario.
He also informed that the changes in quotas mainly based on the estimation of what is happening to the fish stocks. Lake Erie had an excellent spawning year in 2003 but the hatches since then haven’t been as good, Cooper said. The Ontario Commercial Fisheries’ Association appealed the catch limits this spring, had a hearing in early August under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, and is waiting for the results. A final decision will rest with the Natural Resources minister.
Peter Meisenheimer, executive director of the Ontario Commercial Fisheries’ Association, said it is difficult now to survive on one licence anymore. Barraco said he bought more quota and the Pelee Clipper just to stay in business this year. Meisenheimer said the fishing industry can’t access government programs that help out farmers and food processors.
