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April 13, 2001

Nunavut disputes Nunavik’s offshore claim

Makivik wants cut of Davis Strait fish; Quassa and Okalik say no way.

JANE GEORGE
Nunatsiaq News

KUUJJUARAAPIK — There was no declaration of war, but the visit by Nunavut leaders to Makivik Corporation’s annual general meeting last week was hardly a friendly social call.

NTI President Paul Quassa and Makivik President Pita Aatami.

(PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

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Veiled in the exchange of pleasantries and gifts in Kuujjuaraapik was a warning to Makivik to drop its offshore claim to the Davis Strait and stop eyeing Nunavut’s turbot quota.

Nunavut’s premier, Paul Okalik, told delegates at the Makivik gathering that he has no problem with Nunavik’s traditional use of the Davis Strait region.

But both he and Nunavut Tunngavik President Paul Quassa encouraged Makivik’s leaders to drop the waterway out of their offshore claim.

Since 1993, Makivik Corporation has been negotiating a deal with the federal government on its rights in the offshore region.

Despite the long history of these negotiations, they have so far been cloaked in confidentiality agreements.

Only recently did NTI and the Nunavut government learn that their cousins in Quebec have made an official claim to waters that extend up the Baffin Island coast as far as Grise Fiord.

At stake isn’t jurisdiction over who travels on these waters, but who gets claim to their rich maritime resources.

NTI President Paul Quassa isn’t keen on splitting Nunavut’s share of Davis Strait’s fish-rich waters with a Nunavik fishery. He said he was surprised to learn that Zone I of Makivik’s proposed "Nunavik Marine Region" zig-zags up from Nunavik along the Davis Strait as far as Ellesmere Island.

"We’d like to keep Zone I," Quassa politely informed Makivik’s leaders at the meeting.

In fact, NTI already considers its share of the Davis Strait turbot fishery to be too small.

Nunavut has around 30 per cent of the turbot quota in this zone. This share is worth at least $16 million to Nunavut’s fishing industry, although permanent ground-fishing licenses held by southern fishing interests sail off with the bulk of the turbot.

Starting in 2001, Nunavut will also receive any new Canadian share of Davis Strait turbot that is recommended by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, an international conservation and enforcement agency. This new allocation should mean at least 2,000 more metric tonnes of turbot a year for the territory.

Following his address to the Makivik meeting, Quassa was more blunt about his stance on sharing turbot with Nunavik. "No way are we going to give it up," he said.

Publicly, Makivik President Pita Aatami had conciliatory words for his Nunavut visitors, saying his organization wants to work closely with them.

"We don’t have a hidden agenda," Aatami said. "There are always solutions."

Makivik has nonetheless maintained it has a claim on the region, saying that Nunavimmiut were fishing in the Davis Strait long before others from southern Canada.

In June, Makivik and Canada are to sign an agreement-in-principle on Nunavik’s offshore claim.

To move the offshore-agreement process forward, Makivik finally agreed in January to drop its claim on waters off the Labrador coast.

Makivik’s offshore agreement also contains a compensation package that would be worth $50 million for Nunavik.

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