Tag Archives: commercial whitefish fishing
Invasive mussels challenge commercial whitefish fishing in the Great Lakes
Denise Purvis’ family began fishing the waters of northern Lake Huron off Manitoulin Island in 1882. Over the years their operation came to expect the unpredictability of a livelihood dependent on the ability to capture wild fish. Purvis came back to the family business in the mid-1990s after college. Her return home coincided with the arrival of zebra and quagga mussels into the Great Lakes. The mussels have since become synonymous with the problem of invasive species in the Great Lakes. They’ve colonized the lakes and negatively impacted their ecology. For Purvis and the dwindling number of Great Lakes commercial whitefish fishers, the fishery has fallen on hard times. >Video, photo’s click to read<10:28
