Keeping the tradition of smoked and fresh fish alive

The Sayers are a proud Ojibwe family, who have established a successful fishery business, Sayers Fishery, on the shores of Lake Superior. Co-owner Laura Sayers speaks proudly about her dad, Jon Sayers, and how he was instrumental in ensuring that Indigenous communities retained certain fishing rights; a fight for injustice that made a big difference for Indigenous fishers across Ontario.

Today, the children of Jon Sayers, including Laura and her brother Jon Jr., along with other family members, operate Sayers Fishery on Batchawana Bay, on Lake Superior at Corbeils Point on the Obadjiwan Reserve.

Almost every day, Jon brings in fresh fish and Laura handles the fish at their modern processing facility. “The fish that comes out of Lake Superior and Lake Huron are processed on the same day.” said Laura. The day I visited Laura, she was in the midst of de-boning her smoked fish and getting it ready for one of their popular products; smoked fish pâté.

Read the full article about smoked and fresh fish from the Great Lakes

- Sandra J. Trainor