The BBC's Richard Lister: "Recreational fishing keeps this place alive"

But in one corner of the country, a group of Americans is trying to switch nationality.

A battle over fishing rights in Minnesota has led a group of American residents to take drastic action by asking Congress for the right to become Canadian.

North West Angle: divided territory

Around 100 residents living at the tip of Minnesota's North West Angle, who make their living from attracting sport fishermen to lakes and rivers close to the Canadian border, are afraid that new restrictions will prevent them trading.

The authorities have imposed new rules on fishermen from the American side, demanding new licences and limits on their catch.

Legally the lakes and rivers around the North West Angle are international waters, but the Canadian border runs through the middle.

Without full access to the more sheltered waters on the Canadian side, the anglers say they cannot compete.

'They've had enough'

McClanathan: ready to give up US citizenship

Don McClanathan, who has been running fishing holidays on the Angle for 20 years, said: "I just got a call here a few days ago from a group that has been with me for 11 years. They've basically said they have had enough.

"They're saying they're not going to fight and cope with new laws, and say they have chosen to go elsewhere."

"If push comes to shove and I have a choice of either going down the tube or becoming Canadian, I would probably have to choose becoming Canadian."

Congressman Colin Peterson has put forward a bill to let the people of Minnesota vote to change their nationality.

"The one thing that would solve the problem would be that if this was on Canadian soil then these regulations wouldn't apply," he said.

"We've been fighting this for a number of years but this could be fatal. What the people here are really dealing with is whether they will lose their entire life's work and whether their way of life and way they have operated is able to be continued."

Mr Peterson admitted that Washington is unlikely to let the people become Canadian but he hopes that by taking a stand they can at least pressure the government to fight for the fish which are their lifeline.