Pang’s on-the-ice fishermen bring in bumper harvest this year

A box of turbot arrives to be sorted and washed at Pangnirtung’s fish plant. (PHOTO BY SARAH MCMAHON)

The season ended early, but that didn’t stop ice fishermen in Pangnirtung from reeling in a healthy catch of turbot this past winter.

Johnny Mike, Nunavut’s environment minister, told the territorial assembly May 29 that the community harvested more than 600,000 pounds of turbot this season — one of its biggest seasons yet.

“The fishermen made over $700,000 from the fishery itself,” Mike said in a member’s statement. “This is very beneficial to the community. That’s the livelihood of Pangnirtung residents.”

Pangnirtung Fisheries pays about $1.30 a pound for turbot in the Baffin community of 1,400, where fishermen lower lines with anywhere between 120 to 150 hooks a piece through holes drilled in the ice.

But that ice broke up and cleared out early in 2015, Mike said.

“The ice went away very fast and if it was in the past, we would still be fishing for turbot,” he said.

With the early break-up, Mike said a number of fishermen lost cabins and fishing equipment that was set up on the frozen bay. He added he’s glad the government provides subsidies for its harvesters.

Nunavut’s fishery, largely centred off the east coast of Baffin Island, has a total market value of $86 million and employs about 350 Nunavummiut.

The federal government announced earlier this year that it will spend $4.3 million over the next two years for three fisheries research projects in Nunavut geared to assess turbot, char and clam stocks in the Baffin region.