CanNor hands out $360,000 to Nunavut fisheries interests

Leona Aglukkaq, MP for Nunavut and minister for the Canadian Northern Development of Agency, and Johnny Mike, Nunavut’s minister of environment, check out a marine training simulator at Nunavut Arctic College in Iqaluit, Jan. 15. Aglukkaq announced $360,000 in CanNor funding for Nunavut’s fisheries, part of which will go to upgrades to the simulator. (PHOTO BY PETER VARGA)

Nunavut residents who want to become part of the territory’s growing fishing industry just got a little help Jan. 15.

Nunavut MP and minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, Leona Aglukkaq, was in Iqaluit Jan. 15 to announce $360,000 in funding for Nunavut’s fisheries.

“Fisheries in Nunavut is a success story,” Aglukkaq said at a press conference in Iqaluit. “We have been seeing the fish quota rise since 2009, and the infrastructure is growing.”

The funding will go to three projects “aimed at diversifying Nunavut’s fishing industry,” CanNor said in a news release.

Aglukkaq said the Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium has trained “more than 700 Nunavummiut since 2005” for employment opportunities in the territory’s fishing industry.

“The fisheries offer much-needed jobs and growth for Nunavut communities,” Aglukkaq said.

The largest part of CanNor’s funding, announced at the training consortium’s facilities in Nunavut Arctic College, is $220,000 for two studies on the turbot fishery in the communities of Qikiqtarjuak and Grise Fiord.

These will pay for work “required to determine turbot quota allocations off the coast of Baffin Island” and areas around Grise Fiord, including “scientific work required to make those informed decisions,” Aglukkaq said.

Secondly, CanNor invested $85,000 “to develop a renewed fisheries strategy (for Nunavut) which will help position the sector to maximize opportunities in the industry,” the minister said.

A third fund of $58,000 from CanNor has gone to the NFMTC’s marine training simulator in Iqaluit, which trains potential fishers to navigate and pilot ocean-going vessels.

The agency will use the funding to upgrade the simulator’s software and “expand the variety and complexity of the training that students receive, ultimately improving their career opportunities,” Aglukkaq said.

“The renewal of the Nunavut fisheries industry, supported by the Government of Canada and announced here today will act as a blueprint that will guide continued development of all sector of Nunavut fisheries for years to come,” said Johnny Mike, minister of environment for the Government of Nunavut.

“We look forward to continued support from the Government of Canada and CanNor as we move forward in this new phase of fisheries development.”