Northern First Nations studying ways to harvest wild rice – SooToday.com
Experimental Lakes Area working with First Nations on aquaculture project
Can First Nations establish a sustainable wild rice enterprise in northwestern Ontario? That’s what a new research project at the IISD Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) hopes to find out.
In operation since the late 1960s, the IISD-ELA is a kind of “natural laboratory,” made up of 58 small, freshwater lakes, where scientific research is performed. The area is located about 50 kilometres east of Kenora.
With its newest experiment, researchers want to explore the use of fish waste as fertilizer and its impact on freshwater in cultivated wild rice paddy areas, as well as the opportunities associated with growing fish via aquaculture.
The project is being conducted by the IISD-ELA in partnership with the Myera Group, Lakehead University, Eagle Lake First Nation, and two additional First Nations from the Treaty 3 area.
