Seafood Watch says in a statement today that an assessment of the lakes, that was conducted with its Vancouver partner SeaChoice, shows that many fish stocks are severely depleted or have collapsed.

 

Commercial fishers in Manitoba argue that fish stocks in the lakes are healthy, and that the assessment is based on paper reports and not actual lake conditions.

 

Manitoba's freshwater fishery is the second biggest in North America by volume, after the great lakes, and about 85 per cent of commercially caught fish in Manitoba is exported to markets in Europe and the US each year.