A different kind of fishing derby

Based on what members of Qikiqtarjuaq’s Nattivak Hunters and Trappers Association had to say afterward, it’s fair to say that a recent “peace mission” to their community, led by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the Baffin Fisheries Coalition, was a failure.

The purpose of the trip was to persuade the group to climb back aboard the Baffin Fisheries Coalition. Though Nattivak says their board won’t make a final decision until after they look at nine options that the BFC gave them, it looks highly unlikely that they will come back.

If you have any doubt about that assertion, just consider this excerpt from a letter that Nattivak sent to Nunatsiaq News this week.

“This is our fish and Inuit need to protect it from interests like the BFC who want to take as much as they can and leave us eventually with nothing. Sadly, this has been the history for Inuit for years and we need to take a stand and stop it now…”

This is an astounding statement. And for those who still believe in the promise of the Nunavut land claim agreement, and in the legitimacy of its institutions, it ought to be an alarming one.

Follow their logic to its inevitable conclusion. The hunters of Qikiqtarjuaq have, in effect, taken a good hard look at the institutions of the Nunavut land claim agreement and decided that, in the case of the BFC, those institutions are conspiring to do lasting damage to the economic interests of Inuit. They say the BFC is a force from which the Inuit need protection: “This is our fish and Inuit need to protect it from interests like the BFC…”

The Baffin Fisheries Coalition isn’t some heartless corporation run by Bay Street bankers and stock promoters. It’s a creation of three organizations that owe their existence to the Nunavut land claims agreement: Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, and the Government of Nunavut.

NTI, of course, is the voice of Nunavut Inuit. The NWMB is supposed to give Inuit a voice in wildlife conservation that is equal to that of government. The GN represents majority-rule self-government for Inuit; it guarantees that Inuit voters may elect an overwhelming majority of those who govern them.

Together, these three organizations fostered the creation of the Baffin Fisheries Coalition about four years ago, through an informal “fisheries working group.” This is not an unreasonable thing to do. All three bodies are supposed to provide Inuit with forms of political and economic power they did not have before the signing of the land claim agreement. It’s in that spirit that they threw their support behind the BFC.

At least, that’s the theory. But the hunters of Qikiqtarjuaq, or a majority at least, aren’t buying what the land claim elite are trying to sell them.

And if you stand back and try to look at the issue through their eyes, you can’t blame them. They honestly believe that the net-dragging trawlers used by the BFC and other companies will one day destroy the turbot stocks of Davis Strait, in the same way that industrial fishing techniques destroyed Newfoundland’s cod fishery. And they honestly believe that their way, using longliners instead of trawlers, is better for the environment and will give them more jobs.

Right now, it’s impossible to say whether the Masiliit deal will work. Many brave new business ventures, begun with the best of intentions, often fail in northern Canada. Then again, there’s no guarantee that the BFC will survive either.

But all this creates a big problem for NTI and the GN, who have put a lot of hard work into fighting the federal government for a bigger share of fishing quotas in waters adjacent to Nunavut. It’s no wonder that Paul Kaludjak, the president of NTI, takes the issue so seriously, and led a fairly large group of officials into Qikiqtarjuaq last month.

Unfortunately for them, however, the hunters of Qikiqtarjuaq appear unwilling to go back on their plan to go it alone. That fact alone will make it much harder for NTI and the GN to convince Ottawa officials that Nunavut’s officially sanctioned fishing company, the BFC, is handling Nunavut’s quota well. JB