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A/OFRC Fisheries Technician (and Captain) Frank Hardy Jr. from Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek assists workshop participants in the GPS portion of the session outside the community centre in Sheguiandah First Nation
The A/OFRC and Sheguiandah First Nation recently conducted a Commercial Fisheries Workshop for their community fishers. A/OFRC General Manager Ed Desson, A/OFRC Fisheries Technician and Captain Frank Hardy Jr. and A/OFRC Board Elder and Captain Harold Michon facilitated the sessions. Ed Desson gave a hands-on demonstration of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) while Captains Hardy and Michon presented Fishing Ethics, Setting & Lifting Commercial Nets, Repair & Maintenance of Netting Gear, Making Markers/Floats, Making Fish Picks and ended with an Introduction to Trap Nets. The community is very interested in doing some follow-up sessions in the new year. Special thanks to Sheguiandah First Nation Staff Member Valerie Assinewai for helping coordinate this event.
Sheguiandah First Nation participants enjoy a boating excursion on Lake Huron that had them setting both commercial and trap nets during the workshop
In the course of conducting fieldwork in the lakes and waterways of Ontario, many of our staff members have had the opportunity to photograph birds, animals and fish that some people will never come in contact with in their lifetime.
Sarah Ashleigh Couchie, who is currently working as an intern at the A/OFRC, had the opportunity to photograph (see below) a boreal forest caribou and her newborn calf. The calf is hardly visible beneath its mother who is shielding it from the cold rain.
"During my first field project for the A/OFRC, Kim Tremblay, Jenni McDermott (Fisheries Research Associate, Canadian Wildlife Society) and I were eager to get out on to Smooth Rock Lake. We had arrived to the remote fly in camp Mid May. On our way to set some nets for the 3rd year of a Sturgeon Study for Namaygoosisagagun First Nation we ran into a block of ice. Frustrated that the ice was still on the lake we went back slowly to the camp. Passing by a small island we saw a mother caribou and her calf. I took this picture and the wildlife conservation received it through Jenni. The wildlife conservation was preparing a caribou book "Caribou of the North - A Shared Future". The authors contacted me about their interest in using the picture in the book. Recently I received the book in the mail as a token of their appreciation. I'm very excited that I was able to experience seeing the caribou and also sharing this." Sarah Ashleigh Couchie.
The book that Sarah refers to gives full photo credit to Sarah. The photo can be found on page 168 of: "Caribou of the North - A Shared Future" by Monte Hummel and Justina C. Ray it is published by Dundurn Press, 2008 ISBN#978-1-55002-839-3
Congratulations Sarah!
