For many Canadians, Christmas Eve is a special celebration where family, friends and loved ones come together for a shared meal before the gift giving and hooplah of Christmas Day. It’s a day of reflection and sharing at the table — and for some, it also means foregoing meat. In Eastern Europe, for instance, they celebrate with 12 fish dishes (one for each apostle, naturally). We can’t think of a better time to celebrate the humble Walleye!

Walleye, or Pickerel, is one of Ontario’s favorite fish. In Lakes Erie, Huron and Ontario it’s caught by bottom gillnet and trap net making it Ocean Wise Certified. What does that mean? Well, it means that a third party — in this case Ocean Wise has made sure this species is abundant and resilient to fishing pressures in the area, the population is well managed, it’s harvested in a method that ensures limited by-catch and in ways that limit damage to marine habitats in it’s region. There are currently seven Ocean Wise Certified species in our Great Lakes!