Photo provided by the Archibald Family

The History the Commercial Fishing of Mitchell's Bay

Now used primarily for recreation, this pier was once classed as a commercial fishing port, and was a hotbed of activity.  Beginning in the early 1800’s, many families in this area caught pickerel, perch, and other species.  The provincial government issued licenses to regulate areas to fish and equipment used, and established quotas.

For most families, from the 1850’s to the 1970’s, fishing in Lake St. Clair provided a good living.  It was hard work though. Working in open boats, in all types of weather, with very little machinery, they caught the fish and loaded them in boxes into trucks that took them to markets in eastern Canada and the US. 

Photo provided by the Archibald Family

The End of Commercial Fishing on Lake St. Clair

In 1970 Mercury was found in the fish in the lake and there was a ban on commercial fishing for 10 years it was deemed the mercury was from Dow chemical in Sarnia. The mercury was at one point cleaned up and put on a small man-made island called Mercury Island in the bay.

Approximately 10 years later commercial fishing was allowed to start up again with 10 licenses granted. The only fish that were allowed to be caught were the course fish of the lake to clean up the lake. Any quantity of fish that was over the allowed quota was to be disposed of by burring the fish. 

Commercial fishing was all but over by 1985 with Dow chemical paying a small fine which was distributed amongst the remaining commercial fishermen who gave up their license. Eventually people gave up, and by 1995, the industry here was dead.

Photo provided by the Archibald Family

Fun Facts about the Commercial Fishing in Mitchell's Bay

The pier in Mitchells Bay was once a hot bed for commercial fishing. The pier was federally owned and classed as a commercial fishing port where fish would be loaded from the boats into trucks to be distributed to different markets.

• Fishing was allowed year-round accept from May 20 – September 1
• Each license that was issued was given a designated area in which they were allowed to fish on the lake as well as the equipment that could be used to catch the fish and what the quota of different species of fish that could be caught.
• Some fish that were caught were perch, Pickerel, Catfish, Carp, Sheep Head, Dogfish, and Bluegill.
• Fish that were not allowed to be caught were Bass and Muskie - except for once per year.
• Bass was not typically caught commercially; however, for some years, live bass were shipped once a year to ponds at the Veterans’ Hospital in London, so that veterans there could go fishing. 
• Fishermen fished with Hoop nets that allowed fish to be caught alive.
• Equipment used in the early days were wooden boats with seine nets, baited hooks and trap nets. Moving to steel and aluminum boats in later years make fishing safer and equipment easier to maintain. 
• Fish were taken from the boats and loaded into crates sometimes dragged to shore and weighed before being loaded on trucks.
• Dime Jubenville was one who brought the trucks into Mitchells Bay to help the fishermen bring fish to the Pier in Mitchells Bay, and load fish for sale.
• Fishing was carried on in the winter.  Chain saws cut holes in the ice to place ropes and run nets to catch fish through the ice. Trucks and cars were used to drive on the ice to set the nets until the use of air boats or snow planes were used to make it safer to haul the fish up to land. At one point 38” blades were used and could not cut through the ice blocks and someone would go down in the hole created to finish cutting through the ice.
• Fish were transported to various markets in Toronto, Montreal, New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.
• For many years, the Jewish market in Toronto was one of the biggest buyers for fish caught in Mitchell's Bay. Fish were loaded into large bathtubs to be shipped live and blessed by a rabbi in kosher tradition on arrival.
• Some local family names that fished or delivered fish to the pier in Mitchells Bay were Broadbent, McDonald, Jubenville, Hamilton, Williams, Bruesau, Dodland, Archibald, Laforet, and Labute.
• Walpole Island was very involved in the commercial fishing industry with Jubenville Fisheries having 5 crews from the island working for them catching fish. People from Walpole Island First Nations also sold their fish at the pier in Mitchells Bay.
• In the early 1960's, Wally Williams used to take 400,000 lbs of Carp out of the lake each year and sent it to different markets.
• One of the largest catches documented was b Dime Jubenville with 160,000lbs/carp in one haul. That would be worth more than ^$10,000! He was told he had to dump the fish due to mercury poisoning. 
• In 1970, fishing was shut down on March 22, 1970. This was a major hardship for most of the fishermen as this was all they had ever done and made a good living for their families until this was all shut down. Federal Unemployment regulations prohibited them from collecting Unemployment benefits during this loss of employment. 
• To keep his fishery going, Dime Jubenville, had Carp shipped in from Wisconsin. He kept them in ponds on his property and shipped them to Eastern Ontario for processing.
• In 1971, the Province sued Dow for the mercury contamination caused by the Sarnia plant. The settlement was ^$250,000. This settlement was divided among the fishermen based on a percentage of the Federal and provincial loans, and each received as compensation after the lake was closed. The size of the loans was based on each fishermen’s income the year before the ban.
• This was the beginning of the end of commercial fishing on Lake St. Clair from 1970 to 1980, Dime Jubenville, and others fought to have the licences reinstated to the fisherman.
• Fishing continued operating until 1980 with family members working in the operation and frequently keeping the operation going through the family Lineage. 
• In 1980, Ten Licences were reinstated to fisherman they were allowed to catch course fish Carp, Bullhead, Yellow Perch, Suckers, Dog Fish, and any fish they could not sell had to be buried.
• At the high point of commercial fishing area on Lake St. Clair, there were as many as 85 licensees on the lake