A lobbyist group in Manitoba is drawing attention to some issues facing the commercial fishing industry.
Einar Sveinson is the president of Pioneer Commercial Fishers of Manitoba, which represents 300 commercial fishermen and families on Lake Winnipeg.
He says the problem here in Manitoba and across the Prairies is that our freezers are full of fish.
“They’re bursting at the seams,” he says, adding “to let us go ahead and fish, would actually negatively affect our industry for the next 3 to 4 years.”
As a result of the COVID pandemic, Sveinson tells CKDM that sales are down 98% across Canada and the United States.
On top of that, Sveinson explains Freshwater Fish isn’t accepting any pickerel.
He worries that the $62.5 million in federal funding — announced late last month for the fish and seafood sector — won’t help Manitoba fishermen and women who mainly fish for pickerel.
“They’re going to accept carp, suckers, pike, and a little bit of whitefish. I don’t know what all these other fishermen are going to do, if they’re targeting the secondary fish, and their nets are plugged full of pickerel."
"We’re in a pretty bad situation here.”
Going forward, Sveinson would like to see the federal government support a “pay-not-to-fish” program for the next year. He says this would “save our industry for the next 3 to 4 years — not only on Lake Winnipeg — but right across Canada.”
The president of Pioneer Commercial Fishers of Manitoba says he looks forward to both the federal and provincial government stepping up to address this problem.
