Where are the Fish? Using a “Fish as Food” Framework to Explore the Thunder Bay Area Fisheries

Abstract

Thunder Bay is the largest city in Northwestern Ontario and is located on the northern shore of Lake Superior, the world's largest freshwater lake. While fi shing and fi sh consumption are signifi cant parts of the Thunder Bay area's food systems, the ability to purchase fi sh that are caught and processed in the region is extremely limited. While the lake once had an abundance of commercial fi shing activity, today there are only a handful of commercial fi shers left on the Canadian side and most of the catch is sold in the United States. In recent years, there have been growing efforts among community groups, local entrepreneurs, citizens, and Indigenous communities to enhance the sustainability of local food systems and ensure they can provide accessible, healthy, and culturally-appropriate foods, including fi sh. This article uses a "fi sh as food" framework to explore how policies and governance impact small-scale commercial fi sheries in the Thunder Bay area's food systems. Based on twenty-fi ve interviews with a diverse range of actors involved in fi sheries, as well as a review of policies in the interrelated areas of fi sheries management and food systems, we look at the barriers and potential opportunities for reintegrating small-scale commercial fi sheries into food systems in the Thunder Bay area. Our fi ndings indicate that fi sheries governance is dominated by top-down approaches to resource management, to the detriment of equity, livelihoods, and access to local fi sh for consumption.

Identifying Barriers and Pathways Linking Fish and Seafood to Food Security in Inuit Nunangat: A Scoping Review

“…Some researchers have recently developed and promoted the "fish as food" food systems approach, which may be a promising framework to examine and understand the relationships between fisheries (commercial and subsistence) production and consumption, while also recognizing the environmental, social, and economic dimensions that affect food and nutrition outcomes [95][96][97][98][99][100]. This framework provides researchers and policy makers the opportunity to view fisheries and food policy together rather than in silos [99,101,102].…”

Understanding change, complexities, and governability challenges in small-scale fisheries: a case study of Limbe, Cameroon, Central Africa

“…Below, we draw on the fish-as-food framework to explore challenges and complexities within the fisheries system in Limbe (Levkoe et al 2017 ; Lowitt et al 2020a , Lowitt et al 2020b ). With data gathered through a series of focus groups, we argue that changes in the fisheries system caused by social, economic, and environmental stressors — including ineffective governance/management — create complexities that permeate the entire fish value chain.…”