Lake Winnipeg fisherman worried about return of algae
CBC News | Posted: September 17, 2013 11:33 AM | Last Updated: September 17, 2013
Robert Kristjanson's family has been in the fishing industry for over 124 years but in all his years working on Lake Winnipeg, he's never seen it as dirty as it is now, filling his nets with blue-green algae.
"All I could do to pull the nets up ... just to lift them, they're so full of algae," he said.
Kristjanson said the health of the lake is deteriorating every day and it's taking a toll on his livelihood and on others who fish the lake, as well.
He said in spite of the millions of dollars spent on studies, Lake Winnipeg's health has not improved.
He wants to see all Manitobans do their part to clean up.
"Everybody is to blame here," he said. "Let's clean up this water."
Kristjanson said he doesn't believe the number of fish in the lake has declined, and their health hasn't been affected by the algae.
But that could change if the lake gets more polluted, he said.