One of us represents an industry based on the capture and sale of fish from Ontario waters. The other is the head of an organization that just released a report analyzing official consumption advisories for fish from Ontario waters and concluded, among other things, that levels of toxic chemicals in Great Lakes fish are alarmingly high, and not improving.
We both buy and eat fish from Ontario waters.
In light of the kind of headlines prompted by the release of the Environmental Defence report, this may strike some members of the public as odd. Regardless, there is no doubt that some sellers of Ontario fish have been receiving calls from concerned clients who have interpreted the report to mean that they should not eat fish, especially if it comes from Ontario, even though that clearly wasn't the report's finding.
That is unfortunate, because when all things are considered, the fish being offered for sale is a very good food product. The Ontario fish sold at your neighbourhood fish market is nutritious and safe, thanks to a rigorous system of harvesting and processing regulations that determine where fish can be harvested, what size of certain species can be sold into the food market, how it must be handled and what records must be maintained for inspectors. The regulations are subject to periodic review and licence conditions for commercial fishing are updated annually to take new information into account. It's about as good a system as you will find anywhere in the world.
There are also good environmental reasons to eat Ontario fish. Not only is locally produced fresh fish better on your plate, it uses less fossil fuel and produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions to bring it to your table than fish from farther afield. When you eat an Ontario fish, you're eating fish from a tightly regulated, sustainable fishery.
The report that generated so much news is based on guidelines issued by government as advice to anglers, who don't have the benefit of inspection programs. They are essentially an attempt to inform recreational fishing with the same information used to devise regulations and inspections governing the commercial capture and sale of fish.
Commercial fishing is not a huge industry in Ontario, but it has a history that predates European settlement. The role of fish in first nations cultures is reflected in various ways. The Onondaga Nation, for example, has an Eel Clan, a manifestation of the importance of this once prodigiously abundant fish to their way of life. Fishing is still an important part of cultural and economic life in many first nations communities.
A colonial commercial fishery was established in the 18th century. It was well established as an economic activity throughout the Great Lakes basin by the middle of the 19th century.
The modern fishery remains an important economic focus for those communities where it has resisted many challenges and persisted to the present. It should be a source of pride for Ontario that a well-managed, healthy fishery continues to provide us with great food.
Environmental Defence has used the advisory numbers to make a point regarding the persistence of toxic substances in our environment, years after governments committed to cleaning things up. The Ontario Commercial Fisheries' Association also wants government to be hard on polluters – and destroyers of fish habitat, introducers of exotic species and others who mess with the natural system that makes nutritious, wholesome, edible fish when left to its own devices. Those who catch fish for a living have an obvious interest in seeing the quality of their catch protected.
But the industry is concerned that whenever the issue is raised, it is the fish, not the polluters, that are the subject of news media accounts. Politically, it is an easy thing to announce more restrictions on selling fish, or where they can be caught. It is a harder thing to force electrical generators, petrochemical firms, pulp mills, large municipalities and other polluters to clean up their acts. It would be helpful if the news had more to say about that.
At the end of the day, there is one central point that we all agree on: that there is something seriously wrong when we are still talking about whether the fish in our lakes and rivers are safe to eat. In the years since we recognized that our treatment of our environment had to change, there has been some progress. But nobody can say that it is reasonable in any way that, for example, there are still major municipalities around the Great Lakes basin with incomplete or inadequate sewage treatment. The ultimate solution is not to stop eating fish; it is time this issue was dealt with once and for all. Get the pollutants out of our waters so we can stop talking about this and move on.
Peter Meisenheimer is executive director of the Ontario Commercial Fisheries' Association. Rick Smith is executive director of Environmental Defence Canada.
