Svjetlana mlinarevic

Svjetlana Mlinarevic

Herald Leader

July 24, 2014

 

While the 2014 flood has had a destructive effect on cottages and homes around Lake Manitoba, so too has it had one on the commercial fishing industry on the lake.

 

The Manitoba Métis Federation and scholars are claiming the lake is being ecologically damaged by floodwaters due to the Portage Diversion.

 

“We have a crisis on Lake Manitoba, it’s not being dealt with and the decision makers need to know how urgent it is to address the problem of chronic flooding of the lake,” said University of Winnipeg biologist Scott Forbes, who study’s fish and fisheries. 

 

“While they’re trying to restore the health of Lake Winnipeg in a massive effort, one of the sickest lakes in the world, one lake over they’re making it much, much worse. They’re creating an ecological crisis on the lake that to me seems like policy schizophrenia.”

 

Forbes said the influx of phosphorus — one of the major ingredients in farm fertilizer — is not traditionally found in Lake Manitoba. He said the Diversion has introduced phosphorus into the lake, and combined with the natural flow of nitrogen from the Waterhen River, it has produced high levels of chlorophyll-A, which sucks oxygen out of the lake.

 

“Levels of chlorophyll-A are higher than those found in Lake Winnipeg and have almost tripled in the last 20 years, which tracks the increasing use of the Portage Diversion almost perfectly,” he said.

 

During a flood, concentrations of phosphorus in a river can increase by 50 per cent.

 

“It’s good for fish production up to a point until all the fish start dying because of algal blooms and that happened last summer. We had a fish kill that spanned the lake from St. Laurent to Langruth. It was a fish kill that I hadn’t seen anything on that scale before,” said Forbes.

 

Flooding also causes fish to migrate into fields where eggs and fingerlings dry-up when the water begins to recede.

 

After the 2011 flood, Forbes said populations of pike (a predator) and carp “exploded” while populations of yellow perch seemed to go down. Yellow perch is harvested in the winter and according to the Freshwater Fish Marketing Association (FFMA), the flood of 2011 has allowed the northern pike population to expand rapidly by feeding on the perch population. Between the summer of 2011 and the winter of 2012, commercial fishermen received more than $1.7 million in payment from FFMA, but since the 2011 flood commercial fishermen have only been receiving $700,000 to $900,000 per season for their catch.

 

“Lake Manitoba is a fishery that we would like to see built back up again. We, ourselves, are doing what we can to build markets for the less valuable species like mullet, carp, and tullibee. We are seeing returns from those species increasing, but it takes a lot to make up for the losses in the high-value species like perch and pickerel,” said Freshwater president and CEO John Woods.

 

In 2013, the price for a pound of yellow perch was $1.50 while pickerel ran for $1.60/lb compared to northern pike, which earned only $40 cents/lb.

 

A 2011 profile of Manitoba commercial fisheries by Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship fisheries branch reported Lake Manitoba’s fishing industry produced more than $3 million, by 2011 it was $1.7 million.

 

“The effect of this year’s flood will have the same effect as the 2011 flood (on fish stocks),” said Manitoba Métis Federation Minister of Fisheries John Parenteau.

 

“In my opinion, there has been a dramatic drop in walleye (pickerel) in Lake Manitoba and an increase in northern pike (jackfish).”

 

Parenteau believes flooding in the lake from the Diversion brought more northern pike into the lake from surrounding lakes via tributaries.

 

“People have pretty much lost their livelihood from what I’ve seen,” said Parenteau, who is also a commercial fisherman. “Their co-ops were basically in the red and the provincial government has done nothing about the situation on Lake Manitoba in regards to the fishermen.”

 

Parenteau said former Premier Gary Doer promised the MMF that he would create a disaster fund for the commercial fishing industry, which Parenteau said has largely been ignored.

 

“We’re still waiting. They’ve been in power all this time we’re still waiting and dialoguing with government for this disaster fund for fishermen, not only on Lake Manitoba, but all the lakes,” he said.

 

Also affected by floodwaters are the three MMF rearing ponds in St. Laurent, which are designed to help conserve pickerel populations in Lake Manitoba.

 

Every year, 12,000,000 pickerel fingerlings are released into the lake to boost populations, according to Parenteau. In 2011, the rearing ponds were extensively flooded and now require restoration to make them operational once again.

 

“We’ve brought this issue to Emergency Measures Operations Minister Steve Ashton and we wanted to get the rearing ponds going and we haven’t received a positive response from him,” said Parenteau about the non-profit initiative.

“I don’t know why they won’t help us. We’re doing a lot for the fishers and users of Lake Manitoba.”

 

Parenteau said the MMF will create protective barriers for the ponds and eventually it plans on creating rearing ponds across the province once funding is acquired. He noted the St. Laurent ponds should be up and running next spring.

 

“These ponds are very critical. We’re talking about the livelihood of St. Laurent and surrounding communities of St. Ambroise, Sandy Bay, and other users. These people create their livelihoods off this lake,” he said.

 

Since 2011, the province has not renewed funding for the Lake Manitoba Stewardship Board and has cut the budget at the fisheries branch by 25 per cent.