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Qikiqtarjuaq to acquire second boat

Nattivak wants 400 tonnes of turbot in division 0A

JIM BELL

The Genny and Doug, Masiliit Corp.'s first vessel, set out two weeks ago on its second voyage to the turbot grounds of Davis Strait. She'll be joined soon by the Baffin Sound, a second vessel that Qikiqtarjuaq's fishermen will use to build a small-boat community fishery that would feed a proposed fish processing plant in their community. (FILE PHOTO)

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The Masiliit Corp. of Qikiqtarjuaq announced last week that they're buying a second vessel to fish turbot in an area that until now has been fished exclusively by the Baffin Fisheries Coalition.

Masiliit is owned by the Nattivak hunters and trappers association of Qikiqtarjuaq and a southern company called Terra Nova. The Nattivak HTA broke from the BFC last year after a long dispute concerning the coalition's policies and practices.

Masiliit acquired the Genny and Doug, a fishing vessel that uses "fixed-gear," or hook -and-line fishing methods.

Masiliit is now using the Genny and Doug to harvest Qikiqtarjuaq's longstanding 330-tonne turbot quota in southern Davis Strait, or division 0B, and they've struck a deal with an Inuit-owned fisheries co-op in Makkovik, Labrador for another 160 tonnes of turbot, also in southern Davis Strait.

Now they're applying to the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board for 400 tonnes of turbot quota in northern Davis Strait, or division 0A.

Since 2001, only the BFC has been allowed to fish for turbot in that area.

But this time, the Qikiqtarjuaq group believes they stand a good chance of getting some.

Koalie Kooneeliusie, chair of the Nattivak HTA, said NWMB representatives provided a "positive response" to the idea when MPs on the Commons standing committee on fisheries asked them about it recently.

The 400-tonne 0A allocation is an extra amount, usually granted before the end of the fishing season.

The wildlife management board is not allowed to reveal its quota decisions to the public, under provisions set out in the Nunavut land claims agreement. The board's decisions are forwarded to the minister of Fisheries and Oceans, who, if he accepts them, makes the decision public.

The Qikiqtarjuaq group seem so confident about taking the extra 400-tonne quota away from the BFC, they've made arrangements to acquire a second vessel, the Baffin Sound.

A Masiliit press release issued last week says the Baffin Sound will "be part of the turbot harvest of the area 0A that Nattivak HTA has applied for recently with the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board."

Qikiqtarjuaq wants to build a community-based, small-boat fishing operation that would feed a fish processing plant they hope to build in their community.

Senator Willie Adams, a strong backer of Qikiqtarjuaq's struggle to build a community-based fishery, says Nattivak should share its experiences with other Inuit communities.

"I would encourage you to share this valuable knowledge with other communities so that they can advance their own local fisheries," Adams said in a press release.

Sam Nuqingaq, Nattivak's secretary treasurer, said they want to make Masiliit vessels available to the communities of Clyde River and Pond Inlet, so they "may independently evaluate the potential of developing their inshore fisheries."

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