Freshly farmed char at Red Lobster

I should have mentioned this some months ago, even a year ago. I went to a Red Lobster restaurant in Winnipeg with my mother for some seafood when we were both down there. I was very surprised to see on the menu some “fresh char from B.C.”

I indicated to the staff that there are no char that originate from British Columbia and she wondered if there was a mistake. I said I thought they might have meant salmon. She said she would check and come back.

Upon her return she indicated that — yes indeed, the char was from British Columbia — from a fish farm.

How did that ever happen? Our original fish is being sold from points southern to other points southern — for a very healthy sum of dollars I imagine. I found it strange that our char from the North isn’t being purchased by these popular restaurants. Could it be we aren’t advertising enough? And how did the char fisheries farms begin? Was there some sort of arrangement with the powers that be to export the char or capture them live to grow them in farms down there? Does the fishing industry in the true North know this is happening?

I would think we should be first to sell our own char, after careful thought and approval, considering the lack of jobs and resources to be found in Nunavut. I thought I’d do my Inuit civic duty and pass this along. Some of these questions need answers and I wouldn’t know where to start getting them.

I’m quite sure the rest of the Inuit population would like to know as well. Something very fishy about this.

Suzie Napayok
Yellowknife