Certified manitoban lakes
Cedar Lake Fishery
The Cedar Lake Walleye and Northern Pike Fisheries in northern Manitoba earned MSC certification in 2022, becoming Canada’s third freshwater fishery to meet the MSC Standard.
The certification reflects strong stewardship practices led by local partners, including the Chemawawin Cree Nation and Cedar Lake Fisheries Inc., with innovations like voluntary closures and collaborative stock monitoring. It supports around 90 local fishers, strengthens market access, and helps ensure the long-term sustainability of fish stocks and community livelihoods.
Cedar Lake operates both a summer, open water fishery, and a winter, ice fishery.
Cedar Lake fishery is home to many multi-generational fishing families.
For this MSC (Marine Stewardship Council)–certified Walleye and Northern Pike fishery, fishing is a way of life. But according to Floyd George, President of the Cedar Lake Walleye and Northern Pike Fisheries, eco-certified fishing is about to become the new normal.
“In 10 years, fisheries won’t be able to sell fish that isn’t eco-certified.”
Cedar Lake first became eco-certified in 2022.
Learn more about their journey in the video below.
Osh-koo-na-ning fishery
The Osh-koo-na-ning (Waterhen Lake) Walleye and Northern Pike Gillnet winter Fishery in Manitoba earned MSC certification on June 24, 2014, marking it as the first freshwater lake fishery in Canada and North America to meet the MSC Standard. The certification recognizes rigorous fisheries management driven by collaboration among the Lake Waterhen Fishermen’s Association, provincial government, and Skownan First Nation.
Carrying the MSC eco-label for walleye and pike not only supports sustainable harvesting but also broadens market access and sets a model for other freshwater fisheries in Manitoba and beyond.
Waterhen Lake is a winter fishery, meaning the fishers must brave incredibly cold winter temperatures to go ice fishing for Walleye and Northern Pike.
Waterhen Lake Walleye and Northern Pike first became MSC-certified as sustainable in 2014, but as Wesley Catcheway, who is the President of the Waterhen Lake Fishers in Skownan First Nation, tells us,
“Skownan First Nation has always practised sustainable fishing. Eco-certification helps us to maintain the practices passed on from our elders, watch how much we catch and make sure we don’t hurt the lake.”