NWMB works hard for an Inuit fishery

In his May 7, 2004 letter to Nunatsiaq News, John Andrews of Arctic Harvesters Inc., writing from Newfoundland, makes a number of serious allegations concerning the development of the Division 0A (northern Davis Strait) turbot fishery.

With respect to the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, Mr. Andrews claims that the NWMB is denying Nunavut Inuit access to their own resource by allocating the entire 0A quota to the Baffin Fisheries Coalition. The BFC, according to Mr. Andrews, no longer represents Nunavut Inuit fisheries interests – since every HTO member of the BFC, except Pond Inlet, will be leaving the coalition by the end of May.

These allegations are false. Since 1994, the NWMB – along with its co-management partners – has devoted itself to the task of increasing access by Nunavut Inuit to their adjacent turbot resource. Although the struggle has been a difficult one, it has yielded impressive results. In just a few years, the Nunavut Inuit share of the Davis Strait turbot fishery has risen from a mere 27 per cent to almost 58 per cent.

In 2001, the HTOs of Kimmirut, Iqaluit, Pangnirtung, Qikiqtarjuaq, Clyde River and Pond Inlet, along with five other Inuit organizations, decided to keep the new 0A turbot quota intact and to fish it together. From past experience, they understood that fragmented quotas in Nunavut favour southern interests, reduce negotiating power and invite divide and conquer tactics.

Thus was born the BFC – a 100 per cent Inuit-owned company dedicated to the proper development of adjacent fisheries, and working on behalf of all HTO members in six Baffin communities. Just over three years later, the BFC has produced a considerable record of accomplishments.

As to the announcement that five of the six HTOs on the BFC are leaving in the next couple of weeks, the most recent BFC correspondence received by the NWMB clearly indicates a united coalition busy making significant plans spanning not weeks or even months, but years.

The division 0A turbot fishery is a tremendously good news story for Nunavut Inuit, despite Mr. Andrews’ allegations. While much more work still needs to be done, all Nunavummiut should be proud of what Inuit, working together, have accomplished in this fishery to date.

Ben Kovic
Chairperson
Nunavut Wildlife Management Board