NETMIZAAGGAMIG NISHNAABEG — Citing ongoing concerns around commercial-scale fishing on White Lake, Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg will resume its community-led enforcement this year.
“Fish, the lake, the areas around the lake, it's very important to the identity of the people of Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg,” said chief Louis Kwissiwa. “It's who we are — the people — it's what sustained us since we've been there, which is time immemorial.
“It's our identity, who we are as a people, and we have to protect that.”
The First Nation, formerly known as Pic Mobert and located between Marathon and White River, set up a series of checkpoints and patrols in 2024 in order to crack down on what community leadership is calling commercial-scale fishing.
The community will establish a series of checkpoints again this year, said Kwissiwa. Volunteers from the community, as well as others, will be patrolling on the lake itself and around the area.
New this year are plans to invest in drones as well to monitor the area from the air.
The First Nation previously said it was forced to do the work itself, with the help of sympathetic communities like Biigtigong Nishnaabeg (Pic River First Nation) and Marathon, due to inaction by the province — specifically the Ministry of Natural Resources.
This year, however, Kwissiwa said he’s hearing a different tone from provincial officials.
“This year, we got the word that they're coming to participate,” Kwissiwa said. “So, it is a big deal and it alleviates some pressure off the First Nation, but we'll wait and see.”
“I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but it's sounding pretty positive so far.”
In an email, ministry spokesperson Mike Fenn told Newswatch the MNR’s enforcement branch has been meeting regularly with community leadership “to share information and better understand the community's concerns related to fishing on White Lake.”
“We are committed to ongoing discussions and providing support related to these concerns this coming spring. We cannot comment on current enforcement operation initiatives,” he continued.
Kwissiwa said they’re also expecting support from Ontario Provincial Police and Anishinabek Police Services. Newswatch has requested comment from both police forces.
The point of the enforcement isn’t to shut down all angling activity, he said, but to put a halt to commercial-scale fishing, poaching and the use of tactics like netting, which he said is threatening valuable and historic fisheries. Kwissiwa called it both unethical and illegal.
“Having firsthand information through our investigation, we've found it urgent that, you know what, we have to do something about it,” he said. “Here we are doing something about it — asserting our jurisdiction over our territories.”
White Lake is a 6,500-hectare lake, according to Ontario Parks, and is bisected by Highway 17. The First Nation has two pieces of reserve land on its eastern shore. Fish have been a staple of the community for generations.
Kwissiwa said this year, the enforcement will run from when the lake ice breaks up until White Lake freezes over again.
“We have to do everything we can do to protect it,” he said. “To us, it's of the utmost importance.”
