As a “Centre of Excellence” for fisheries assessment and management, the A/OFRC employs standardized assessment tools, innovative science and technology, and traditional knowledge to evaluate stock status and stresses on fish populations and their habitats. The roles of the Centre are to report on stock status, evaluate stresses on fish populations and habitats, collect and oversee the collection of data and storage, monitor and evaluate resource usage, promote the use of state-of-the-art science and technology, to identify information gaps in fisheries of common interest to First Nations and the Province of Ontario, and to provide a forum for information sharing and participation with stakeholders. The Centre also plays an important role in offering management recommendations to promote sustainable fisheries and resolve conflict. As a partnership between the Union of Ontario Indians and the Province of Ontario, the Anishinabek/Ontario Fisheries Resource Centre is well positioned to undertake many different fisheries projects. The organization's mandate is derived from the 1993 Anishinabek Ontario Conservation and Fishing Agreement and articulated in the 1995 Memorandum of Agreement between the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the Union of Ontario Indians, the 1995 funding agreement between OMNR and the A/OFRC, and the 1995 Letter Patents of the A.OFRC. The Centre is a not-for-profit corporation established under letters patent dated April 25, 1995, issued by the Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations. The Conservation and Fishing Agreement contemplated the establishment of a Centre "to act as an independent source of information upon technical matters relevant to fisheries and management issues". The A/OFRC is a non-profit corporation controlled by a Board of nine members.
• The Anishinabek Nation (UOI)
appoints four (4) Directors
• The Province (OMNR) appoints
four (4) Directors
• The Chairperson is jointly approved
Since 1996, the A/OFRC has completed over 360 project with First Nations communities. These projects include creel surveys, index netting projects, tagging studies, fish habitat inventories, spawning assessments, and educational workshops.
