The Commercial Fishery of the Canadian Great Lakes
The Commercial Fishery of the Canadian Great Lakes is written by A.B. McCullough and published by the Canadian Parks Service, Environment Canada (1989) under Studies in Archaeology, Architecture and History. This book is available for review online through the Parks Canada Electronic Library. This book describes and details Canadian commercial fishing on the Great Lakes, including the following areas listed within the table of contents: Introduction Background Pre-Confederation Legislation and Regulations Technological Development: Fishing Gear Technological Development: Boats Technological Development: Processing and Distribution Ownership and Marketing Labour and Working Conditions Changes in Fish Stocks Post-Confederation Legislation, Management, and Conservation Federal and Provincial Jurisdictions International Jurisdiction Commercial, Sport, and Subsistence Fisheries The Economic Impact of the Great Lakes Fishery Download PDF version of this publication
Strategy and options for completing the recovery of walleye in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron
This historic research report written by Dave Fielder and James Baker was published in 2004 the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. This report explores the challenges and opportunity for Walleye recovery efforts in Saginaw Bay, and sets the stage for the now fully recovered Walleye populations known today in the Saginaw Bay region. This publication is archived in the Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Library.
History, status, and management of fishes in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron, 1891-1986
This historic technical report published by Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division technical report was written by Mryl Keller, James Schneider, Leo Mrozinski, Robert Haas, and John Weber (April 1987) . This report explores a diversity of fishes in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron, and documents their history, status, and management from 1891-1986. This technical report is archived in the Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Library.
Alexis Rockman, The Great Lakes Cycle
Book by Dana Friis-Hansen, published by Michigan State University Press (2018). This book connects art and Great Lakes science, exploring ecology and issues through the art of artist Alexis Rockman. This book is described by Michigan State University Press, as follows: This book focusing on an ambitious new body of work by American artist Alexis Rockman (b. 1962) explores the past, present, and future of the Great Lakes, one of the world’s most emblematic and ecologically significant environments. Rockman’s series The Great Lakes Cycle celebrates the natural majesty and global importance of the Great Lakes while exploring how they are threatened by factors including climate change, globalization, invasive species, mass agriculture, and urban sprawl. Though positive action has been taken in recent decades to understand and counteract the environmental damage, this inspiring publication will serve to promote continued attention to these fragile ecosystems. The works in the series are based on Rockman’s research, travel in the Great Lakes region, and conversations with scientists, historians, and specialists. Included are large oil paintings, field drawings, a suite of watercolors, and documentary material. The book’s essays will relate this new work to historical and contemporary landscape art and will address the significance of the Great Lakes ecosystem and what it can teach us beyond the region.
Bell’s Fishery, Fishing Family Profile
Venerable fishery sets sights on future. Bell’s Fishery has been a fixture in Mackinaw City for decades, providing fresh and smoked fish to retail and wholesale customers at the northern tip of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Now owned by Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians and under new management, Bell’s Fishery also offers sausage, pâté and other snack foods in its retail area. Bill Mogford, who has years of experience in the wholesale food business, is pleased to be managing this establishment now, with its long standing excellent reputation for product and service. A fried fish basket is the most recent addition to Bell’s lineup, and has proved popular with the thousands of tourists who flock to the area every Spring, Summer and Fall. “People eat with their eyes,” he says, so he and his staff pay special attention to making the shop visually appealing with its variety of fish, cheeses and condiments, as well as the 1,2 and 3 Piece Whitefish Baskets. He’s also careful to satisfy the customers that depend on Bell’s for premium Great Lakes whitefish fillets and smoked fish. “We have to be careful and promise only what we can deliver. You have to take your time with preparing the fish; you can’t be in a hurry and do a good job.” Mogford has no illusions about the challenges involved in a business that depends on the harvest of wild fish by fewer and fewer fishing operations. But he’s optimistic enough to expect that it won’t be long before fish products become a staple at Biindingen, the Little Traverse Bay Band’s convenience store in Petoskey. He thinks that the future of the business depends on increasing the number of customers, and he’s committed to doing what it takes to help them enjoy Great Lakes whitefish. This story posted in Fishing Families on Great Lakes Whitefish website (view PDF version of original web content)
Janet Gilmore Collection
Janet Gilmore’s fisheries research has been conducted for the University of Wisconsin and the Michigan State University Museum. She did oral histories and folklife research with Upper Peninsula of Michigan commercial fishers in the late 1980s for the Michigan State University Museum. Her publications include the following: 2007 “Wisconsin’s Friday Night Fish Fry Tradition.” www.classicwisconsin.com 2004 “Sagamité and Booya: French Influence in Defining Great Lakes Culinary Heritage.” Material History Review/Revue d’ histoire de la culture matérielle 60: 58-69. Ottawa, ON: Canada Science and Technology Museum. 2003 “‘Pretty Hungry for Fish’: Fish Foodways among the Commercial Fishing People of the Western Shore of Lake Michigan’s Green Bay,” Midwestern Folklore 29: 1 (Spring): 1-43. 2007 “Fish Tugs.” In The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia, Folklore Section, Ed. Richard Sisson, Christian Zacher, and Andrew Cayton, pp. 358-59. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.1999 “‘We Made ‘Em to Fit Our Purpose’: The Northern Lake Michigan Fishing Skiff Tradition.” In Wisconsin Folklore, ed. James P. Leary, pp. 457-75. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. First edition in The Old Traditional Way of Life: Essays in Honor of Warren E. Roberts, ed. Robert E. Walls and George H. Schoemaker, pp. 58-78. Bloomington, IN: Trickster Press. 1996 “Fishing (commercial).” In American Folklore: An Encyclopedia, ed. Jan Harold Brunvand, pp. 271-73. New York: Garland Publishing. 1994 Luanne Kozma, with Janet C. Gilmore and Jay C. Martin. Marlinespikes and Monkey’s Fists: Traditional Arts and Knot-Tying Skills of Maritime Workers. East Lansing: Michigan State University Museum. 1990 “Fisherman Stereotypes: Sources and Symbols.” Canadian Folklore 12: 2: 17-38.
Big Stone Bay, Fishing Family Profile
A Fleet of Fish Trucks and a Boat. Cameron “Cam” McMurry of Big Stone Bay Fishery doesn’t have a family heritage in commercial fishing. In fact, he never liked fish until he was about 16. He says, “I always used to think fish were slimy until I was a little older and didn’t live at home anymore.” However, he says he’s always liked to do physical and outdoor things, and he apprenticed with Mackinaw City’s Bell’s Fishery for 10 years as a young man. There he acquired a taste for fish (he now likes nothing better than delicacies such as trout and walleye cheeks) and learned enough about the fish business to start his own. “I was 26 when I started this business, in a building near my home, and I was terrified.” But he figured that he knew enough people to supply the fish, and he could figure out a way to sell them, even if it were to people in the next door campground. Now he’s not afraid to get millions of pounds of fish and hundreds of thousands in a day. He’s careful about choosing his fish suppliers and says, “We know the ones that take care of their catch by using ice and good handling methods.” He’s proud of his Big Stone Bay crew, whether they are cleaning, filleting, packing fish into boxes or loading them into his large, white, distinctively painted fleet of trucks. “All the people who work for me have worked for me for a long time, and everybody knows what they are doing. I’m happy putting all of these people to work. I always like it when there is a lot to do and I get up early and plan what everybody is going to do, and time just seems to fly by.” “We’re smart, and we’ve survived for 25 years in the fish business because I’ve persevered. We have a good reputation, and over the counter business has helped. Somehow, I managed to be a success. I’m not out to be a millionaire, but I am happy cruising along, and I am doing all right and times are good. Some years are better than others, but I haven’t gone hungry yet. My kids all got new shoes.” McMurry’s family likes fish and some are also involved in the business. One of his daughters regularly helps with bookkeeping and paperwork, and one of his sons is getting involved with him, too. They’re excited about starting a chub fishery on Lake Michigan. Perhaps a second generation of McMurrys will sustain the business their father started. This story posted in Fishing Families on Great Lakes Whitefish website (view PDF version of original web content). A variation of this profile is also published online by the Michigan Fish Producers Association (‘The Fishermen’ ).
Fishtails
“Fish Tails” refers to articles that are submitted by USFWS field staff that do not appear as a feature in the current edition of the on-line newsletter “Fish Lines”. These articles provide examples of the diverse work that the Service’s Midwest Fisheries Program and partners perform on behalf of our aquatic resources and for the benefit of the American public.
Carl & Don Frazier, Fishing Family Profile
Fraziers persist with fishing ‘in their blood.’ Near the “top” of Lake Michigan lies the little town of Naubinway, meaning Place of Echoes in Ojibwe. The echoes of the lumbering operations that first attracted Europeans to the area have long since faded from the memory of all but the most historically minded. The fishing families that followed the loggers and lumber barons have managed to sustain their livelihood, but not without significant struggles. The Frazier brothers–Carl, Don and Allen–are from such a family, determined to wrest a living from the lakes and from government regulators who implement legal consent decrees and can determine who can fish commercially and where. The Frazier brothers’ grandfather started fishing part time in the 1920s, and the boys became interested in what he was doing. As a young man, Carl worked for a while with Bob Sellman in Manistique, where he learned a lot more about the business. And when whitefish started coming back in the mid ‘60s, Carl and Don started fishing under the ice, while their brother Allen managed the processing shed. At first they fished gill nets, but switched to trap nets when the Bureau of Indian Affairs required it. “We had the boats paid off and thought we were going to be able to save some money for a rainy day or retirement. But they disqualified us from fishing by rejecting our tribal documentation, and it took more than 10 years and lots of money to be recognized. Now we’re adopted members of the Sault tribe,” Carl says. “It’s great to be back on the water, almost like being reborn,” he adds. “We love fishing; it’s hard to get it out of your blood. Fishermen are the most independent people in the world.” Not surprisingly, then, Fraziers like being their own boss. It’s a new challenge every day, whether getting back into the Swedish market or competing with government subsidized product from Canada. “We’re certified with the Food and Drug Administration’s Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point program and we provide premium whitefish fillets. We also smoke fish and dress some, so we’re pretty versatile,” Carl says. Coping with those challenges is one thing; ridding the lakes of invasive fish species and zebra mussels (and the associated slimy Cladophora that fouls their nets) is something beyond their control. Frazier thinks lake managers need to be more careful with regulations to prevent further damage to the fishery. As much as he personally enjoys the fishing life, Carl doesn’t expect his son to follow in his footsteps. He has a college degree and works in southern Michigan, and Don’s sons are employed by another area fishing family. This story posted in Fishing Families on Great Lakes Whitefish website (view PDF version of original web content). This profile is also published online by the Michigan Fish Producers Association (‘The Fishermen’ ).
History of Commercial Fishermen Iosco & Alcona County 1835 to 2019
Book offers news articles and images, stories and personal experiences illustrating the history of commercial fishing in Alcona and Iosco Counties of northeast Michigan, northern Lake Huron (1835 to 2019). Book is written and published by Clarence “Tuffy” and Bonnie Cross (2019); and is available for purchase at the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan.
