NET WORTH

HOW TWO QUEBEC BROTHERS ARE FILLING A CATCH-AND-RELEASE NICHE

BY MARK CARDWELL

WINTER WEEKENDS HAVE always been synonymous with skiing and other outdoor sports for Antoine and William Choquette. But this winter, the Quebec brothers spent their spare time indoors making a product spawned from their summertime passion for Atlantic salmon fishing: highend, handmade wooden landing nets that are hooking growing numbers of conservation-minded salmon anglers across Canada and beyond.

Based out of the small garage behind Antoine’s home in the village of SaintFerréol-les-Neiges, 50 kilometres northeast of Quebec City, the pair currently produce three lines of landing nets, ranging in price from $250 to nearly $500 for customized versions. “Demand is crazy,” says Antoine, a 32-year-old mechanical engineering consultant. Together with William, 30, who works in marketing at nearby Le Massif ski resort, they run Frero, the small company they founded in 2020 to make and sell their nets. “We both have full-time jobs, so we have to work nights and weekends to keep up.”

Though available in a few specialized fly-fishing stores in Quebec, most Frero nets are sold via the company’s eye-catching website and Facebook page. Both feature action-packed videos and photos of the brothers—lifelong fly fishermen who were turned on to catch-and-release in their early 20s— using their nets to land fish on some of Quebec’s most popular salmon rivers.

Protecting The Fish

It was the trouble they had tail-landing a massive salmon on one of those rivers, La Gouffre, that helped spawn their business venture. Concerned the knotted nylon mesh and steel frames of existing nets were harmful to fish, Antoine created his own. Using wood and non-abrasive mesh, he built a prototype with a four-foot-long handle and a 40-inch-long, 16-inch-wide hoop with a twofoot-deep net. “It was beautiful and there was nothing else like it on the market,” Antoine says of that first net, which he and William tested in 2020. “It worked perfectly. Fights were shorter, capture was easier and we lost a lot less fish.”

In early 2021, they made 20 more nets and sold them within days via Facebook. One notable buyer was Fred Campbell, founder and president of Hooké, a leading brand of fishing and hunting gear and apparel that’s popular among young Quebecers. He says Frero nets fit perfectly with the premium millennials place on conservation and sustainability.

“The kill-it-and-eat-it mentality of previous generations is giving way to the enjoyment of the challenge,” Campbell says. “It’s becoming less about the eating of the fish than it is the thrill of catching it.”

Then there’s Tyrone Buckle, the director of operations at Atlantic Rivers Outfitting, which operates two flyin fishing lodges in Labrador. He says his guides and customers rave about the Frero nets he purchased online. “They are fabulous,” says Buckle, who ordered 50 more in early 2022. “They are esthetically pleasing and made with beautiful craftsmanship.”

Meeting The Demand

Buckle also notes the arrival of Frero nets was timed perfectly, considering the pandemic led to an uptick in the popularity of salmon fishing, one of the few activities people could still do during the lockdowns. There was also an industry-wide shortage of landing nets at the time.

Plus, the growing popularity of catch-and-release for Atlantic salmon includes the use of landing nets instead of traditional tailing, which can injure fish as they’re brought close to shore. According to Myriam Bergeron, general manager of the non-profit Quebec Federation for Atlantic Salmon, Quebec anglers livereleased more than 70 per cent of their reported catches in 2021, more than double from a decade ago.

For their part, the Choquette brothers plan to continue riding the popularity of sustainable salmon fishing, and grow their company in the process. To date, they’ve made some 200 nets, with brisk sales leading to the recent hiring of a part-time employee. They plan to double production in 2023.

“It’s a lot of work,” says Antoine. “We’re not skiing as much as we’d like to these days, but we’re having a lot of fun, and we’re very proud of what we’re doing.” OC