Peter Kilabuk is the Chairman of the Pangnirtung Fisheries and member of the Cumberland Sound Fisheries Board. The Nunavut Wildlife Management Board sets the quotas for Baffin fisheries.

The Pangnirtung Co-op holds 200 shares and the Hunters and Trappers Organization owns the same number. Their dividends amounted to about $10,000 each. And, more than 40 people in Pangnirtung received the remaining dividends.

"This is the very first time dividends were paid out as a result of offshore fisheries," says Kilabuk. The profit from offshore turbot fishing was $140,000 last year.

The offshore quota last year was 600 metric tonnes of turbot. This year, it was 655 metric tonnes.

The Pangnirtung fisheries plant employs more than 50 people -- some days, says Kilabuk. It's been active for about five to six years and received start-up assistance from the NWT Development Corporation, says Kilabuk.

Turbot processing season runs from November to mid-May. The actual fishing season is January to May.

"When there's good ice, there's been 500,000 plus of turbot in past years compared to 100,000 plus of turbot in recent years," says Kilabuk.