Canada has plenty of regional foods—we all know that poutine is associated with Quebec, and that the Nanaimo bar comes from B.C. But Newfoundland and Labrador is home to some dishes that you’re probably not familiar with—and may not have even ever heard of.
No. 1 Toutons
These small, round, pancake-like pieces of bread dough (also called “damper dogs”) were traditionally pan-fried in pork fat; nowadays butter (or healthier fats) is more common. It’s a breakfast or brunch item, often served with molasses, syrup, or jam. Yum!
No. 2 Cod au Gratin
The name explains it all: cod fillets baked in a creamy sauce topped with cheese and breadcrumbs. Newfoundland has a number of traditional cod dishes, including salt dried cod(No. 3) and crispy cod tongues (No. 4). The tongues are dredged in flour and fried in oil. C’mon! Anything fried is tasty.
No. 5 Scrunchions
These are essentially bite-sized cubes of pork fat, fried until the fat is rendered and the cubes are crunchy. Scrunchions are often served as a side dish (mixed with onions) over fish or fish and brewis (“hard bread”—No. 6).
No. 7 Bakeapples
These berries—also called cloudberries—ripen in August in marshy, boggy areas. They’re delicious in pies and tarts or made into jam.
No. 8Jiggs’ Dinner
A typical true Jiggs’ Dinner includes salt beef (or other salt meat), root vegetables, and yellow split peas, soaked and boiled for hours.
Last October, I was out on our dock when I noticed three seagulls, one flying and shrieking, and two others harassing two loons in the water. Every time they dove, the seagulls would do a flap-jump type of lift and then settle beside the loons when they emerged. I have never seen this before. Were they fighting over the same food?—Trudy O’Brien, Lake Newboro, Ont.
Bingo! Well, probably bingo. “This sounds like a feeding issue of some sort,” says Kathy Jones, the volunteer manager of the Birds Canada Canadian Lakes Loon Survey. “Both species eat fish.” Beyond that, “I can’t say for sure what was happening,” she says. “Perhaps the loons were on a particularly good raft of fish and the gulls wanted to use it? Perhaps the loons had wandered into the gull’s feeding territory? Perhaps both species were fishing on their own, but loons and gulls just don’t do well in the same space?”
Maybe, except, “I would think gulls fishing on their own are more efficient than them trying to steal food from loons,” says Jones. Loons scarf. A loon could probably easily gobble down a catch before a gull could snatch it away. Then again, gulls are known for stealing food from other gulls, from other birds, even from people. (Try eating French fries on a beach filled with gulls.)
This article was originally published in the September/October 2022 issue of Cottage Life.
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Photos by EWY Media/Shutterstock and Travelingthenorth/Instagram
When the restoration of Kenora’s Husky the Muskie statue was revealed on June 22, some people thought it was less than fin-tastic. The 12-metre-tall local icon received a new paint job this spring, with funding from the federal government through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. Many people have taken toFacebook to voice their opinions.
“Put it back to the way it was,” said Sandra Alin-Willis, a Kenora local who says she isn’t fond of the statue’s new look. “It’s not our Husky the Muskie.”
Kristen Boucha, another resident of Kenora, says she wasn’t concerned when this update was first announced and agreed that the fish was in need of a touch-up. But, when the statue was unveiled, Boucha was surprised to see how much it had changed. “I don’t think anybody was expecting to have one fish covered up with the tarp and have it unveiled to be a completely different fish,” she says.
Boucha would like to see the statue changed. “Maybe kind of bring it back a little bit to what it used to be, or try and blend the two together to find a happy medium,” she says. Though, she doesn’t think a change is likely, given the amount of money that was spent on the project, and the fact that it was financed from a heritage fund.
Alin-Willis says the statue is dear to many in Kenora, having been around for so long. “A lot of people get their graduation and wedding pictures down there,” she says. “It was the first big thing they ever put up in Kenora, and the tourists love it.”
Bronson Carver, a local journalist for the Kenora Miner and News, wrote an opinion piece on the statue’s unveiling in late June. Carver says he thinks there are more pressing issues for the community to worry about than Husky the Muskie’s paint job, but he says he understands why the community reacted so strongly to the change.
“He was supposed to be a symbol of keeping the lake clean, taking care of the water, and obviously fishing,” Carver said in an interview, noting that the city of Kenora has deep historical and contemporary ties to fishing. “I think if anything else had a divisive paint job, it wouldn’t be as big of a deal. You couldn’t find something that has more potential to be divisive than Husky the Muskie because people care about fishing.”
We put a call out in a Facebook group to see how people were feeling, and this is the response we received.
Some took issue with the fact that the renovation was not done by a local company or artist. The restoration was done by Alberta-based Dinosaur Valley Studios. “They definitely should have hired a local artist, they really had an opportunity to bring the community together, make it fun and include us,” wrote Suzanna Mary Alcock.
Both the city and the studio did not offer comment on this issue, but in a press release from the City of Kenora, the company’s president Frank Hadfield said: “After extensive research on the real fish, it was decided by our artists and designers to blend characteristics of the several sub-species of muskellunge, with a focus on the tiger muskie.”
“I personally don’t like it…but that’s my opinion…l think it looks too cartoonish,” wrote Annie Augustine.
“More a tiger muskie now, they should have kept the natural look of muskies from our area,” wrote Terrence Kozak.
The studio also decided to give the muskie a brighter look to make it stand out from the surrounding area. “We also noted that the original colour blended in with the surrounding foliage so well, that it was difficult to notice Husky when driving by. We decided to lighten his background colour, so that he stood out from the trees a bit more,” Hadfield said in the press statement.
Asian carp are getting a new name—but only in the state of Illinois. Last month, Illinois’ Department of Natural Resources announced that it was changing the name Asian carp to copi (a play on copious for their abundant numbers).
The rebrand is an attempt to dismiss long-held misconceptions about Asian carp and to reintroduce the fish as a delicious meal option. “It’s a tasty fish that’s easy to work with in the kitchen and it plates beautifully. Every time we’ve offered samples during the Illinois State Fair, people have walked away floored by how delicious it is,” said Illinois Department of Natural Resources director Colleen Callahan, in a statement.
Asian carp are often mixed up with common carp, a bottom feeder with a mucky taste. Asian carp are top-feeder, white fish that are high in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, rich with protein, and low in mercury.
The common carp is often confused with the family of Asian carp. They are bottom feeders and unlike silver carp have barbels. Photo by malgosia janicka/Shutterstock
“Copi is more savoury than tilapia, cleaner tasting than catfish, and firmer than cod,” said chef Brian Jupiter of Chicago’s Ina Mae Tavern, in a statement. “It’s the perfect canvas for creativity—pan-fried, steamed, broiled, baked, roasted, or grilled. Copi can be ground for burgers, fish cakes, dumplings, and tacos.”
Since the name change, 21 Illinois chefs and retailers have committed to adding Asian carp to their menus. Copi has yet to be made official, but Illinois plans to apply to formally change the name with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by the end of the year.
By revamping Asian carp as a consumer-friendly option, Illinois is hoping to reduce the species’ population within the state. Asian carp are an invasive species brought to North America from Asia in the 1960s and 70s. The fish have taken over U.S. waterways, decimating native species. Asian carp have replaced all native species in certain sections of the Mississippi River and make up more than 50 per cent of the fish, by weight, in sections of the Illinois River.
Asian carp is actually a catchall term for four types of fish: the silver carp, bighead carp, grass carp, and black carp. These four species reproduce rapidly, eat up to 20 per cent of their body weight in plankton each day, and can weigh up to 40 kilograms, reaching a metre in length.
Photo courtesy Asian Carp Canada
Bighead carp
Photo courtesy of Asian Carp Canada
Black carp
Photo by Edvard Ellric/Shutterstock
Grass carp
Photo by photomaster/Shutterstock
Silver carp
They have yet to become established in Ontario waters thanks to both the U.S. and Canadian governments implementing programs to keep the carp out of the Great Lakes. If they were to become established in the Great Lakes, the carp would pose a threat to the $7 billion-a-year commercial fishing industry and $16 billion-a-year tourism industry.
But not everyone is supportive of the Illinois name change. In an email, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) said that while increasing the fishes’ popularity could contribute to reducing the population, there is concern that creating a viable and desirable market for an invasive species will encourage individuals to introduce this species elsewhere. “Something we obviously do not want to happen.”
OFAH said it couldn’t speculate on whether the Ontario government would ever change the Asian carp name to copi, but, “if a name change [did] occur in Ontario and Canada…it would be guided by science as well as a desire to prevent any possible introduction of these species into our waters.”
Under Canada’s Federal Fisheries Act and Ontario’s Invasive Species Act, live possession of Asian carps is prohibited, unless dead and gutted.
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Didn’t purchase a fishing licence this year? From now until July 10, you can fish in Ontario for free without a licence.
While licences aren’t required, regular fishing rules still apply. The province says fishers must:
follow conservation licence catch limits
obey size limits and sanctuaries
follow the fishing regulations
carry a permit or identification card issued by the provincial or federal government, showing your name and date of birth
More information on Ontario Fishing Regulations can be found here.
If you’re short on fishing equipment,TackleShare is a program that loans out free rods and reels across the province. Anglers can sign out equipment (like a book at a library) at locations throughout the province, including provincial parks, conservation authorities, and libraries.
For those who can’t make it out to the cottage before July 10, you can take a crack at urban fishing. Cities have designated fishing sites and all fishing rules still apply within city limits.
This is the last of four dates the province designated as free fishing periods in 2022.
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Photo by T. Lawrence/Great Lakes Fishery Commission
For the past two years, COVID-19 impeded conservation operations in the Great Lakes. Now, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission is ramping up efforts to contain invasive sea lampreys that threaten the wellness of the ecosystem.
Sea lamprey management is a fickle but important part of Great Lakes conservation. Since the 1950s, Canada and the U. S. have been working in tandem to keep the invasive species in check and preserve the $7 billion Great Lakes fishing industry. However, in 2020 and 2021, pandemic restrictions prevented conservation workers from undertaking their usual ecosystem management efforts in the Great Lakes.
In the past, when control was eased, lamprey populations grew relatively quickly. However, Marc Gaden of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, which is in charge of sea lamprey management, says the organization is hopeful that renewed containment efforts will keep the population in check this time around. “We’re cautiously optimistic that we can weather this,” says Gaden.
What’s happening right now?
The pandemic limited the Commission’s capacity to work in the field and manage lamprey populations. The Fishery Commission’s lamprey management operations were only able to run at roughly 25 per cent capacity in 2020, and 75 per cent in 2021. “COVID set us back a bit, the past two seasons have been highly curtailed because the crews couldn’t get out there,” Gaden explains.
The lampreys that are spawning now, are survivors from the 2020 season. This means the Commission won’t know until the fall, once they’ve fully analyzed all the available data, how significantly the population has changed.
Still, Gaden is cautiously optimistic about the situation. The Commission had been aggressively controlling the sea lamprey population in the decade leading up to COVID-19, which happened to set them up well for the pandemic, says Gaden. “We went into COVID as well-positioned as you can be for a disruption of that size.”
Both the Canadian and American governments have provided the Great Lakes Fishery Commission with additional resources, allowing them to step up the battle against the sea lampreys, says Gaden. Now, the Commission is working at maximum capacity to apply the lampricide treatments. “We’re well-positioned from a resource position to really take this battle to the lamprey and to continue to suppress the populations to the target level we’ve set.”
What are sea lampreys?
Sea lampreys have been a thorn in the side of Great Lakes conservationists for a century. They’re ancient blood-sucking creatures with eel-like bodies and rows of concentric teeth. While the creatures are healthy contributors to their natural environment off the Atlantic coast, they’re devastating to the fish of the Great Lakes.
“From a scientific point of view, even though sea lamprey are a huge pest in the Great Lakes, lampreys as a whole are evolutionarily pretty fascinating,” says Margaret Docker, a professor at the University of Manitoba who studies lamprey biology and freshwater fish conservation. Sea lampreys began to evolve half a billion years ago. The ancient sea creatures are often mistakenly referred to as eels thanks to their long and skinny bodies, but they’re actually considered jawless fish. “Almost all the lineages of jawless fish went extinct, and lampreys are one of the few survivors from that time, 400 million years ago,” says Docker.
Parasitic sea lampreys use their jawless but teeth-lined mouths to suction onto a host fish. Then, they use their tongue—which also has its own set of teeth—to chisel away at the flesh of their prey to suck up its blood. For those who are now scared to dip their toes into the Great Lakes, have no fear, sea lampreys only go after cold-blooded prey.
Docker says the larger fish of the Atlantic are able to handle the sea lamprey’s bite, which makes them little more than a nuisance (like a very large mosquito) in their native habitat. But for the smaller freshwater fish of the Great Lakes, the sea lamprey’s bite is often fatal.
Photo by M. Gaden/Great Lakes Fishery Commission
Why are sea lamprey harmful to the Great Lakes?
The vampire-like fish was first seen in Lake Ontario in the mid-1800s, but it wasn’t until the 1930s that sea lampreys were documented in all five lakes. Gaden says sea lampreys entered the Great Lakes through man-made canals, and the Great Lakes happened to serve as the perfect habitat for the invasive creatures. It provided them with optimal spawning grounds, a plethora of tasty fish, and most importantly, a lack of natural predators. “That’s kind of the best recipe you could possibly have if you’re an invasive species,” says Gaden. “Those are the best conditions for an invasion.”
Gaden says prior to the late 1950s, sea lampreys inflicted enormous damage to the ecosystem of the Great Lakes. Individual sea lampreys are capable of killing 20 kilograms of fish and each female can lay 100,000 eggs. After their invasion, sea lampreys quickly decimated the fish populations of the Great Lakes. “They put some commercial fishers out of business,” says Gaden. “In some cases, they were eating more fish than humans were catching.”
In 1954, Canada and the U.S. joined forces to create the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, which they tasked with managing the Great Lakes ecosystem and containing sea lamprey populations. Gaden says the creation of this bi-national organization is a testament to how destructive the sea lamprey is. While the commission has had success and setbacks over the past half a century, today, lamprey numbers are only at a small fraction of what they were prior to control efforts, he says.
The secret weapon in the fight against lampreys? Lampricide. Lampricide is a pesticide discovered by the Commission that kills lampreys while leaving other wildlife in the Great Lakes unharmed. “It’s a wild success story in terms of taking a species that essentially posed an existential threat to the Great Lakes, and bringing it under control using mechanisms that are safe for the environment and harmful to lampreys,” Gaden says.
It’s crucial that conservation efforts continue to ensure sea lampreys don’t expand beyond the Great Lakes, says Docker.
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(Relaxnews) – In light of ongoing concerns over mercury levels in fish, a team of researchers has conducted a study which found that the health benefits of fish outweigh the negative impacts when consumers choose wisely.
The joint study out of Sweden and Finland aimed to create a risk-benefit model that would shed light on the risk of mercury consumption, versus the value of omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked to everything from heart health to cognitive function and improved eyesight.
Published in the October issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the study examined mercury levels and omega-3 concentrations in the hair and blood samples of 361 Swedish men and 211 men from Finland, all of whom had suffered from a heart attack.
While methyl mercury in fish may, indeed, pose a health risk, even a small change in fish consumption was found to prevent 7 percent of heart attacks in men, as long as mercury levels remained low.
The conclusion? Eat fish, but avoid large predatory species like pike and perch which contain a lot more mercury than smaller ones.
The US Food and Drug Administration also offers a consumer’s guide to different types of fish, advising against the consumption of shark, swordfish, King mackerel and tilefish for their high mercury content.
Other tips:
-Five of the most commonly eaten types of seafood low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock and catfish.
-Eat up to 12 ounces (the equivalent of two average meals) a week of fish and shellfish that are low in mercury.
-Opt for canned light tuna over albacore tuna, which contains more mercury.
A study conducted by Dr. John S. Witte and his team, from the Institute for Human Genetics, Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the University of California in San Francisco, has shown that omega-3 fatty acids can lower the incidences of prostate cancer.
In the study, for which the results are published in Clinical Cancer Research, Dr. Witte followed a group of 466 men diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and 478 men in good health.
"We detected strong protective associations between increasing intake of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and more advanced prostate cancer," said the researcher, who underlined that the risk for this type of cancer is lowered by 65% in men who follow a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids.
Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fatty fish, such as salmon, flax seeds and certain green vegetables like cabbage.
A study published in the medical journal Acta Paediatrica reveals that eating fish on a regular basis increases the adolescent IQ.
According to Kjell Toren of Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, the young 15-year-olds attained 7% higher cognitive test results than average when fish was consumed once a week. Test results increased by 12% when the teen participants ate fish more than once per week.
Several previous studies have demonstrated that omega-3 fats, which are abundantly found in certain fish, may promote brain development and function.
According to a study by Harokopio University in Athens, a Mediterranean diet, including a large consumption of fish and olive oil and less red meat, contributes to preserving bone density in women.
We know that the essential nutrients for our skeleton are calcium and phosphorus, which make up 80% to 90% of our bones. The next essential components are proteins, minerals and vitamins.
Adopting a Mediterranean diet as suggested by the study reportedly has a significant impact on the health of bones for adult women.
