A SORRY TALE: NATIVES, SETTLERS, AND THE SALMON OF LAKE ONTARIO, 1780–1900

• Published in: The Historical Journal
• Main Author: TIRO, KARIM M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2016
• Subjects: History; Canada; Atlantic salmon
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0018246x16000121; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0018246X16000121

Abstract Through the end of the eighteenth century, Lake Ontario had a large population of Atlantic salmon. However, the salmon population declined precipitously in the first half of the nineteenth century, and the fish had disappeared completely by 1900. This article analyses the responses of both Natives and settlers to initial salmon abundance and subsequent diminution. Although the extirpation of the lake's salmon is generally attributed to the construction of dams, this article identifies earlier and broader causes of salmon decline. In both Canada and the United States, commercial fishing captured unprecedented numbers of fish while agriculture and deforestation compromised salmon spawning habitat. While primary responsibility for the extirpation rests with the settlers, both Natives and Euro-Americans treated the fish as a commodity. As the salmon dwindled, sportsmen's groups came to the fore in setting fisheries policy. Sportsmen supported enhanced conservation measures but based their strategy on unrealistic methods for reviving the fish population through pisciculture.