Despite challenges, fishing on Lake Winnipeg ‘just a way of life’ for many in this northern First Nation

It’s before sunrise on a warm September morning as a commercial fishing boat, music playing out of its speakers, pulls up to the docks outside the Negginan Fishing Station in Poplar River First Nation.

On board are three fishers, including the boat’s captain, 43-year-old Desmond Batenchuk.

As they load up several blue tubs of ice, a CBC News photographer and a reporter hop in, and the boat sets out, zipping over only slightly choppy water as first light appears over the mouth of the Poplar River, where it enters Lake Winnipeg’s expansive north basin.

For Batenchuk, this marks the beginning of what will turn out to be a condensed fall commercial fishing season. 

“It’s the greatest thing in the world,” he says. “I love it. I’ve been doing it all my life. It’s something I look forward to doing every season. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t fish.”

Commercial fishing is a key industry for Poplar River, a remote fly-in First Nation on the eastern side of the lake, about 350 kilometres north of Winnipeg .

“It was just a way of life,” Batenchuk said. “There was no cellphones, games, TVs when I was growing up.”

He’s been fishing since he was seven years old, when he started helping his parents, who were also commercial fishers.

“That’s how I got into it,” he said. “It’s just a hobby for me. I don’t consider it work anymore. I’ve been doing it all my life.”

He runs a boat of his own on the north basin of Lake Winnipeg, the 11th-largest freshwater lake in the world. 

Batenchuk said he’s grateful to be able to make a living doing what he loves.

And he’s not alone. There are about 30 commercial fishers in Poplar River First Nation, a community with an on-reserve population of around 1,200.

WATCH | What it’s like to be out on Lake Winnipeg with Poplar River fishers:

“A lot of people rely on it,” said Batenchuk. “They live off of it.”

The kind of fishing they do is called gillnetting. 

Batenchuk and his crew members, Lance Hudson, 34, and Eric Berens, 31, had set their nets and were checking them for the first time when CBC joined them on Sept. 24. In total, Batenchuk puts out 18 nets. 

Each licensed commercial fisher has a quota for what they’re allowed to catch.

After lifting out floaters that hold the nets in place, Hudson and Berens pulled out walleye (also called pickerel), whitefish, sauger and suckers, as well as a catfish and sunfish, tossing them into the blue tubs.

It’s the walleye and whitefish the fishers want.

Those species are bought by the Winnipeg-based Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation and sold around the world. 

Source of income, sustainability: chief 

Once the fish are caught, they’re taken back to the fishing station in Poplar River. They’re gutted, weighed and packed with ice for shipment on the MV Poplar River, which runs from Poplar River to Matheson Island, further south at the narrows of the lake, before they’re shipped to Winnipeg.

Chief Vera Mitchell said commercial fishing now serves as an important economic driver for the community.

“Our people traditionally have relied on fishing as a source of income and also sustainability to feed their families,” she said. 

Tom Bittern, 80, knows the tradition well.

He’s worked at fishing stations all over Lake Winnipeg since he was 16, and the Poplar River station is a place that’s been near and dear to his heart.

“It’s a good livelihood what they’re doing, plus they keep the guys working here until the middle of October, the third week of October,” Bittern said.

About 10 people are employed at the band-owned fishing station, including Bittern, the operations manager.

But this will be his final season.

“It’ll be kind of hard on me with all them years I’ve been here,” Bittern said. “I’ve been out on the station for a long, long time.”

He’s seen many good years and many challenging ones, including this fall, which has been difficult for Poplar River fishers.

The fishing station shut down for the season earlier this week, after CBC was out with Batenchuk and his crew, because crews here haven’t been returning with enough fish. That’s an earlier shutdown than usual.

Batenchuk said the past few years haven’t been great.

“We started losing most of our whitefish several years ago,” he said. “It’s just been going downhill. I don’t know — I’ve seen it like this before, long time ago. Lost all the whitefish back in the day, and they came back.”

Challenging fall season

David MacKay, the station’s business manager, told CBC after the fishing station closed for the season that he’s concerned about the impact.

“You’re not making money,” said MacKay, who lives in Winnipeg. “The fishing station isn’t making revenue, the fishers are not getting return. They’re not seeing a paycheque. It’s a detrimental chain effect to everybody.”

Although it’s been a slow fall near Poplar River, a fisher further south on the lake told CBC fishing had been good this season.

The province said in a statement the relatively warm weather resulted in somewhat unfavourable fishing conditions for the first half of the fall commercial fishing season on Lake Winnipeg, but it will continue to monitor levels in the coming weeks.

Manitoba’s Fisheries Branch teamed up with Batenchuk in early September to do a fish stock assessment on Lake Winnipeg near Poplar River.

Indigenous Services Canada and Manitoba’s Fisheries Branch have partnered on a stock monitoring program since 2018, which hires local Indigenous community members, often commercial fishers, to collect data in partnership with biologists, a provincial spokesperson said.

Poplar River First Nation is one of eight Indigenous communities that are part of the program for 2024-25.

Provincial biologists will analyze the data, in hopes of better understanding fish populations in the Poplar River area, the spokesperson said.

Batenchuk said he came away feeling positive after the fish stock assessment.

“It’s looking pretty good,” he said. The stock monitoring suggests “the smelt and that was coming back, and all the walleye was all small … and females,” said Batenchuk — signs that suggest better seasons ahead.

“Next year and the year after, there should be lots around again.”

Health of Lake Winnipeg a concern

The health of the fishery and the lake are vital to fishers like Batenchuk.

Algae, zebra mussels, diluted sewage leaks from Winnipeg and climate change are among his worries.

“It’s pretty concerning,” he said. “That’s where I get my money.”

Getting younger fishers interested in the industry is also important for the community.

Startup costs to buy a commercial licence, a boat and equipment can be prohibitive, Batenchuk said.

But he has two adult sons who are interested in fishing and following in the family’s footsteps — a tradition he hopes continues for years to come in the community.