A government official says higher mercury levels in a handful of northern Saskatchewan lakes continues to pose a problem for some commercial fishers trying to market their produce within Canada.
In order to sell fish commercially within Canada, mercury levels must be below .05 parts per million.
Chris Dunn, an official with the fish and wildlife branch in the Ministry of Environment, says about a dozen lakes in northeastern Saskatchewan are affected by higher mercury levels.
He says these lakes are in the Wollaston, Reindeer Lake, Southend and Cumberland House areas.
Dunn adds the fish most affected tend be larger and predatory species.
“We find here in Saskatchewan is walleye or pickerel are the ones typically you have to watch the most and then after that would be pike and lake trout,” he says.
Dunn also says regulations have not changed recently but there is more demand for localized marketing.
“The main thing is we’re certainly seeing more demand for localized marketing with the changes to our relationship with the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation – as of last year we’re no longer part of the monopoly – we’ve taken the tact that we need to monitor and watch the situation a little more carefully.”
The issue was discussed during the Ministry of Environment’s presentation this past weekend at the Saskatchewan Cooperative Fishers annual general meeting in Prince Albert.