Ottawa increases Nunavut turbot allocation by 1,500 tonnes

Jerry Ward, chief executive officer of the Baffin Fisheries Coalition, said the federal government’s recent increase in turbot fishing allocation for area 0A, off Nunavut’s offshore, helps make the territory’s fishing industry “more viable.” He points to area 0B on a map in this file photo, where the territorial government also hopes to see increases to Nunavut’s fishing quota in the future. (FILE PHOTO)

Nunavut fisheries can draw on 1,500 more tonnes of turbot off of Baffin Island this year, thanks to an increase in allowable catch from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

The increase concerns an area known as division 0A in the northern waters of Baffin Bay, off the northeast coastline of Baffin Island, where fisheries and oceans increased the allowable catch to 8,000 tonnes from 6,500 for 2014.

The catch, reserved for Nunavut fisheries only, gives Nunavut access to 73 per cent of its total adjacent offshore turbot resource.

The Nunavut Wildlife Management Board is already seeking applications from Nunavut fishing firms for allocations of the extra 1,500 tonnes, covering between the 2014 and 2017 fishing seasons.

“This is a substantial increase and Nunavut will continue to benefit from this important resource,” James Arreak, Nunavut’s outgoing minister of Environment, said in a news release dated Nov. 15.

Nunavut’s share of the turbot catch in division 0B, just south of 0A, will remain at 2,850 tonnes of a 7,000 total, the territorial government stated in the release.

Arreak stated that the government remains “committed to improving our share of the 0B fishery and increasing our overall share to a more equitable 85-90 per cent.”

Total allowable catch allocations follow advice from the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization’s Scientific Council.

The council recommended the increase in 0A for 2014 “based on positive survey results and a relatively small amount of harvest,” the government stated.

The increased allocation was welcome news for the Baffin Fisheries Coalition, which holds about 62 per cent of the harvest allocation in division 0A, said Jerry Ward, the coalition’s chief executive officer.

The increase for Nunavut “was made based on good science, and it makes all of our fisheries more viable,” he said Nov. 18.

Ward agreed with the need to eventually increase Nunavut’s allocation in the 0B division. “We have an extremely short fishing season in 0A,” he noted, whereas 0B’s season, which is up to four months longer, would present greater opportunities for development of Nunavut’s industry.

“I think the precedent has been set for Nunavut’s allocation to increase,” Ward said.

“Overall, we’re very excited about it, and we’re equally optimistic about the fishing in 0B.”

Nunavut’s allocation in the southern division amounts to about 42 per cent, Ward noted, with the remainder allocated to Newfoundland and Labrador, and other Atlantic provinces.