Although there’s roughly 6,500 kilometres of land and sea separating them, commercial fishers in Manitoba and commercial fishers in Estonia are hoping to form a trading partnership as Canada and Europe continue to navigate a new world order.
A group of 15 Estonians consisting of fishers, fish processors and scientists associated with the Peipsi Alamvesikonna Kalurite Liit MTÜ (the Peipus Lower Basin Fishermen’s Association) spent almost a week in Gimli with the Kristjanson family (Robert T., Chris and Trevor) learning about commercial fishing on Lake Winnipeg, the supply chain and fisheries management.
The Estonians also shared information about fishing on Lake Peipus (also spelled Peipsi), which forms part of the border between Estonia and Russia, as well as fishing on the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland.
Estonia is directly south of Finland, across the Gulf of Finland, and lies along Russia’s northwestern border.
With the current United States’ administration having altered its long-standing and hitherto relatively stable trading relationship with Canada after president Donald Trump took office in 2024, Kristjanson said Canadians should be stepping up their efforts to explore business partnerships with Europeans, who are “coming to our door.”
“The Estonian fishing representatives are well aware of our situation with Trump and the tariffs, and they know how important it is to build new trade relationships. We’ve already had fishing representatives come to Manitoba from France, and now they’re coming from Estonia, which is over 4,000 miles away,” said Kristjanson. “I don’t think we Canadians fully understand the value of what we have here in Canada because we’ve been under the thumb of the Americans our whole lives, giving them everything they ask for and 70 cents on the dollar. This is a new world now. Europe is coming to our door; we have to open it and welcome them in.”
In the twentieth century, Estonia was annexed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the Second World War. It remained under Soviet rule until 1991 when the USSR experienced economic upheaval, government reforms and the rise of independence movements in Soviet republics. Estonia is a member of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
With European and NATO-member countries currently experiencing a disrupted trading relationship with the Russia Federation, Kristjanson said Europeans are exploring new business opportunities and partnerships, including with Canada. The Estonians are “looking to us to buy and sell fish.” There is great market demand in Europe for fish as Europeans eat “way more fish” than North Americans.
“Europe is open for business, too,” he said. “The way I understand it is that Russia is closed for business. Before the war [Russia’s invasion of Ukraine], the Estonian fishing industry had business partners in Russia. It was the same with our own marketing board [the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation (FFMC)], they had business relationships with Russia. Now we have this situation with the U.S. putting tariffs on our stuff. It’s a similar kind of situation that Canada and Europe are in right now.”
Estonian walleye (also called pike-perch), jackfish and perch are very similar to Lake Winnipeg’s fish, he added. He has eaten European walleye and in terms of taste, “you can’t tell the difference.”
Chris’ dad Robert T. Kristjanson, who has been fishing on Lake Winnipeg for 77 years, said they took their Estonian visitors “all over the place,” including to the Hecla-Grindstone region to show them where the Kristjansons fish, techniques they use for open-water and winter ice fishing, and fishing equipment such as their Bombardiers. The Estonian delegation also met with provincial government representatives to learn how Manitoba’s commercial fishery is managed and visited FFMC.
“This was an important visit with the Estonian fishing industry,” said Robert. “With the Americans kicking everybody [down] in one way or another with tariffs, there is another world out there that’s open for business.”
It wasn’t all business, though. They enjoyed a “walleye and whiskey” afternoon in which they ate Lake Winnipeg walleye (pickerel) and exchanged liqueur from Tallinn (Estonia’s capital) with Crown Royal from Gimli.
What prompted the Estonians’ visit to Manitoba was knowledge of federally owned FFMC, which is headquartered in Winnipeg and sells Manitoba fish around the world, and the made-in-Manitoba Ice Vikings television series, which features the Kristjanson family and other Lake Winnipeg commercial fishers. Made by Farpoint Films, the show examines the dangers of ice fishing on an unpredictable lake.
Kristo Pastak, spokesperson for the Peipus Lower Basin Fishermen’s Association, said they were “very touched” by the warm welcome they received from the Kristjanson family, FFMC and the province’s fisheries management representatives.
It’s important for the Estonian fishing industry to seek international markets for a number of reasons, including support for their own fishing industry and meeting consumer demand.
“International markets provide stability and resilience for our fishing industry. By connecting with partners abroad, we can ensure a sustainable supply of fish for consumers while supporting local fishermen at home,” said Pastak after the Gimli visit wrapped up. “The world is big, but when it comes to certain fish species, it is still small. If fish stocks in a certain region decrease or fishing opportunities increase, this will have a huge impact on fish which is caught in Estonia and its price. Therefore, it is important to be connected and get information about what is happening, which gives us better opportunities for planning.”
The 15-member Estonian delegation was made up primarily of fishers from Lake Peipus and the managers of fish processing companies, but it also included two University of Tartu Estonian Marine Institute scientists, who are involved in the research and management of fish resources on Lake Peipus.
“Our main goal was to learn about the management of Lake Winnipeg fisheries. The region’s experience in managing large freshwater fisheries is very important to us,” said Pastak. “The idea to visit Manitoba came to us while watching the series Ice Vikings. Some of our fishermen are big fans of the series. Therefore, visiting the Kristjanson family and learning about their fishing gear and methods is the focus of our trip.”
They discovered that the fishery and the ecosystem on both Lake Winnipeg and Lake Peipus are quite similar, he said, and Estonian and Manitoban fishers share many of the same job challenges and dangers.
“Lake Peipus is a small copy of Lake Winnipeg: both have a smaller and warmer southern part, into which the largest river flows, which unfortunately also brings pollution. Both lakes have a larger and cleaner northern part, and between these two basins there is a narrow, fast-flowing central part, where the greatest depths of the lake are located. This area is attractive for the fisheries of both lakes, but unfortunately it is also where the greatest risk of losing fishing gear and being in danger lies,” said Pastak.
There are similarities in both lakes’ scale of operations, the cooperative management between government, processors and fishers, and fisheries management in which fishing is limited by individual quotas and closed periods. Unfortunately, both lakes share “signs of a growing conflict between professional and recreational fishing because the resource may no longer be enough for everyone who wants it,” he said. And like Lake Winnipeg, Lake Peipus’s prize fish is walleye.
Lake Peipus’s fish stocks are smaller than those of Lake Winnipeg’s, but this brings an advantage by way of better traceability and control over fish stocks. Lake Peipus has stricter regulations for its fish species.
“Lake Peipus statistics are monitored and regulated for all fish species. In Lake Winnipeg, only for three fish species,” said Pastak.
The average annual catch quota for Lake Peipus is 6,600 tonnes [or 6.6 million kilograms], depending on the year and environmental conditions, said Pastak. The quota between Russia and Estonia is shared 50/50. The average annual catch on the Estonian side is 74 per cent of the quota.
By way of comparison, FFMC’s annual report for 2024-2025 says the corporation received 8.9 million kilograms (or 8,900 metric tonnes) of fish during its 2024-2025 season (statistics for Lake Winnipeg alone are not provided). Fish is also delivered to other licensed fish buyers as the province has an open market, and those numbers are unknown. The process of eco-certifying Lake Winnipeg is ongoing; it’s recognized that consumers want sustainably sourced fish.
Estonia and Russia are currently cooperating on managing their shared Lake Peipus fishery despite tension on the political stage.
“Historically, Russia was an important market for Estonian fish. This was mainly for industrial fishing like Baltic sprat and Baltic herring. Fortunately, these are not species from Lake Peipus but are caught from the sea and the bay. Fish from Lake Peipus is mainly sold to Europe, so Peipus’ … fishermen are not affected,” said Pastak. “But since the lake is located between Estonia and Russia, cooperation in managing fish resources is very important. Fortunately, the very tense political situation has not yet prevented cooperation with the Russian side. Without this, there would be no way to sustainably manage the lake. At the same time, fishermen must monitor their location very closely, because violating the Russian state border entails confiscation of the fishing vessel.”
The Peipus Lower Basin Fishermen’s Association is interested “very much so” in developing a trading relationship with Manitoba.
“The stocks of walleye in Lake Peipus are limited, which makes us interested in purchasing Manitoba fish. At the same time, we believe some of our products may also be of interest to Manitoba fishermen and processors,” said Pastak. “We go back to Estonia and analyze the information and opportunities we have received, and draw conclusions about future possible cooperations.”
When asked how the Government of Manitoba could assist Peipus’s fisherman’s association in forming a fish-trading relationship with the province, Pastak said through networking, logistics, regulation and trade agreements.
“We would welcome support in facilitating connections between Manitoba’s fisheries, processors and distributors with Estonian partners. Assistance with logistics, regulatory frameworks and establishing long-term trade agreements would be especially valuable. Fisheries Branch for the Province of Manitoba [have] all the relevant information. With their help, we will get the necessary contacts in the field and impartial professional knowledge,” said Pastak. “We really hope that this meeting will not be one-sided. Since our fish stocks are smaller [and] the monitoring of our lake stocks is better organized … they would have a lot to learn from us. Therefore, we are very much looking forward to [having] the Manitoba fishery management, the Kristjanson family and other fishermen and producers [come] to Estonia to exchange experiences.”
Chris Kristjanson said he and his family are definitely working on a way to take the Estonians up on their offer.
A spokesperson for the Manitoba fisheries branch said staff met with the Estonian delegation but did not say when asked by the Express what the provincial government can do to support a possible trade partnership.
“Fisheries Branch met with representatives from Estonia’s commercial fishing industry as they toured Manitoba last week,” said the spokesperson. “Manitoba and Estonia representatives shared information about their respective industries and discussed how fisheries are managed.”
