Tipping the Fish Scales
Commerical fishing on the Great Lakes has had a checkered history. Between no commercial regulations or restrictions in place and poor practices, the 400 or so early operations depleted fish stocks to the point of endangerment and, in some cases, extinction. Fishing in the Great Lakes Basin can be divided into three distinct periods: indigenous subsistence practices, maximum harvest commercialization, and modest commerce and extensive recreational angling. Fish and fishing have been a critical part of life in the Great Lakes state. At the peak of commerical fishing, around 150 million pounds of fish were harvested annually. Today, this number is significantly lower and much more sustainable.
Long before Europeans set foot on the continent, Indigenous peoples had robust fishing communities and practices. Fish were a crucial part of the Anishinaabe peoples' diet and culture. Indigenous peoples fished year-round, including ice-fishing, with little impact on fish populations. Largely fishing from the shore, the Anishinaabe and their ancestors used practices including netting, spearfishing, and trapping (still in use today). After the arrival of Europeans, Tribal communities would trade with the newcomers. Early travellers and settlers described the region as abundant with fish. Antoine Cadillac described the region as very impressive: "[t]he great abundance of fish and convenience of the place for fishing" is why Tribal communties settled here, and "[i]t is a daily manna which never fails; there is no family which does not catch sufficient fish to live on throughout the year. Moreover, better fish cannot be eaten...." The Iroquois described their lands as "full of fish, venison, moose, beaver, and game of every kind."
Great Lakes Tribal subsistence fishing practices around the lakes changed in the 18th century as a result of the wars of the European powers. Between 1781 and 1854, Tribal communities ceded lands and waters to their new neighbors in a series of treaties. The international boundary between Britain and the U.S. created problems for Native fishing communities since waters were divided through the lakes themselves. Indigenous treaties—which remain in full force today—are part of the ongoing struggles between Americans and Anishinaabe centering on Tribal sovereignty. Use of the waterways and the lands adjacent to them is at the heart of treaty rights. The Treaty of Washington demonstrates that water was a defining aspect fo these treaties: "Beginning at the mouth of Grand river of Lake Michigan...thence, in a direct line, to the head of Thunder-bay river...thence northeast to the boundary line in Lake Huron between the United States and the British province of Upper Canada, thence northwestwardly...through the straits, and river St. Mary’s, to a point in Lake Superior north of the mouth of Gitchy Seebing...thence south to the mouth of said river and up its channel...in a direct line to the head of the Skonawba river of Green bay in direct line, through the ship channel into Green bay, to the outer part thereof, thence south to a point in Lake Michigan west of the north cape, or entrance of Grand river...." (Treaty of Washington, 1836, describing land cession 205). The Treaty of Washington (1836) also specifically outlined provisions for the government supply of fish barrels to the Anishinaabe, which strongly implies at least some of those who signed the treaty saw a future for commercial fishing. Fishing rights have been the subject of many legal pursuits in Michigan.
When the fur trade declined in the 1830s, the American Fur Co. (AFC) began commercial fishing in Lake Superior between 1834 and 1841. The Anishinaabe peoples were intimately involved with these early commercial fishing efforts, primarily as fishers for the AFC. When Ramsay Crooks took over the northern division of the fur company, he gave the go ahead for commercial fishing on Lake Superior. In 1835, headquarters were moved from Mackinac Island to La Pointe, Madeline Island (Apostle Islands), and fishing camps were commissioned at Isle Royale, Grand Portage, and Fond du lac. Most of the fish captured in the ventures were shipped in barrels through Sault Ste. Marie to other lake ports around Michigan. French traveller and fur trader Gabriel Franchere made notes about the fishing operations in Grand Portage, Isle Royal and Ance Quiwinan. In 1839, he noted that the trout fishing season at Grand Portage lasted around 2 months, then whitefish would appear, and that season would start. Exploring the operation, Franchere made note of the invetory and locations. Fishing stations extended along coastal regions of the islands up to 45 miles long. The first few years of business were lucrative and productive. However, severe lack of quality control and bad practices led to the venture's demise. The market for fish had almost completely disappeared in 1841. Over the next several decades, various competitors and companies attempted to follow in the AFC's footsteps.
Commercial fishing licenses were first issued by the DNR in 1865. The early industry created a large number of jobs for local communities. Where the 1830s had been a period of experimentation, the 1840s and 1850s eminated in part from expanding business opportunities at port cities, including Detroit, where Trygvie Jensen stated that whitefish sold for $12 a barrel (Wooden Boats and Iron Men, 7). The growth of commercial apparatus, including newer gill-nets, power lifters, and steam-powered vessels, pushed local smaller fisheries out of business. By the 1850s, nets had evolved to a massive scale and this continued mechanisim, including cold-storage and railway transport, drove opportunities for large-scale profit. Commerical fishing boomed in the 19th century, feeding tens of millions with its heyday in 1899. Michigan's very own Fishtown—located on the Leelanau Peninsula—historically is a survivor of the commerical fishing era. Wooden shanties, fish tugboats, and charter boats to the Manitou Islands sit upon the historic estuary of Lake Michigan. As one of the few remaining commercial fisheries on Lake Michigan, Fishtown is representative of the booming fishing industry of the 19th century. Situated on the Leeland River, Laurie Kay Sommers says generations of fisherman nicknamed the river "fish creek" (Fishtown, 3). In 1930, Michigan had the most extensive fisheries of any of the Great Lakes states. Producing 2.5 million pounds of fish annually and employing 2,237 men, Fishtown was a microcosm of the larger picture. With 18 families (72 people) and 8 rigs, catches were valued at $50,000 and were of crucial importance to the local community.
Poor commercial fishing practices damaged fish stocks, and by 1882, the impact of fishing had caused a “remarkable diminution, if not complete collapse” (U.S. Fish Commission). The practice of maximizing the catch with little concern for the stocks continued well into the 1900s. Recognizing the decline in fish stocks, entrepreneurs sought to mitigate the problem by funding hatcheries and stocking programs. Further exacerbating conditions for native species of fish were logging and dredging in the late 19th century, which destroyed breeding habitats in streams and riverbeds. The lumbering industry laid waste to millions of acres of riverbeds and fish habitats. Most of the commercially-exploited Great Lakes fish populations either partly or wholly collapsed. The blue pike is now entirely extinct from the Great Lakes due to overfishing. Two of nine cisco species—deepwater and shortnose—are now considered completely extinct. Bigger boats and better nets could not compensate for a steadily declining number of fish.
Commerical fishing laws of substance only came to be in the 1920s. Growing recreational associations—aided by the tourist industry—initiated the first conservation laws. In 1929, all persons fishing on the Great Lakes had to be licensed, and the law also stipulated minimum size for fish, seasonal limits, and the legal types of fishing gear. More importantly, the law designated open and closed areas for commericial fishing. The combination of overfishing, the sea lamprey, and the alewife all but destroyed commercial fishing on the Great Lakes.
The recreational fishing industry saved the region’s commercial fisheries. Biologist and Michigan native Howard Tanner was appointed chief of fisheries in Michigan in 1964. Tanner realized the recreational angling industry could alleviate the problems of the commercial industry. In 1966, Tanner introduced Pacific Salmon to deal with both the alewives problem and bring anglers to the region. Although not native to the Great Lakes, coho were efficient predators that would prosper off the alewife. Coho were easily grown in hatcheries, grew quickly in the wild, were an excellent sport fishing species, and were not believed to be capable of reproducing themselves naturally in the Great Lakes, thus giving the state a way to rid the waterways of the species if they proved a problem.
The rapid success of the salmon placed in Lake Michigan led to an equally sudden surge in sport fishing. By 1976, sport fishers were capturing nearly three million salmon or trout. State agencies quickly decided to advance the newly emerged sport fishing industry rather than attempt to revitalize commercial fishing. The state’s rationale was that sport fishing brought more money to the state’s economy than did commercial fisheries. In testimony before the United States House of Representatives, the head of Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources estimated that each fish caught by a sports fisher brought about $80.00 to the state’s economy, whereas the same fish was worth only $1.25 per pound if captured commercially. As soon as the Coho Salmon established a foothold in the lakes, they began to feast on the alewives, and the ecosystem began to recover. Thanks to them, the Great Lakes have become a multi-million-dollar recreational fishery. In 2012, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service estimated the annual net value of the recreational fishing industry on the Great Lakes to be somewhere between $393 million and $1.47 billion. In 2019, the Mackinaw Center for Public Policy estimated the annual net value of the recreational fishing industry on the Great Lakes to be $2.3 billion.
To protect the sports fishing industry from potential commercial fishing, the state established a number of regulations designed to limit or eliminate commercial operations. Perch, walleye, salmon, and lake trout were put off limits to commercial fishers. Currently, there are 51 state-issued commercial fishing licenses in Michigan (MI DNR). Limited commercial fishing has led to a rebuilding of the fish stock in the lakes. With healthy fish stocks, should we reconsider commercial fishing practices?
