Iqaluit (July 19/04) - A fish quota war is brewing in the Davis Strait off the shores of Nunavut and Greenland.

The Baffin Fisheries Coalition (BFC) has hired two foreign vessels to help complete the Nunavut fisheries quota for turbot and shrimp.

Industry advocates for the Atlantic fishery argue the vessels are foreign born and have been reflagged Canadian.

"A dangerous precedent has been set to allow foreign government to come in and harvest our fishery," said Newfoundland commercial fishing activist Gus Etchegary. "My God in heaven, nothing could be worse," he said.

Vessels from the Atlantic fishery have harvested the waters adjacent to Nunavut for 15 years, Jerry Ward, CEO of the coalition said.

BFC is increasing its percentage of the catch in Nunavut waters and those same companies that used to harvest the area are upset that they will lose out, said Ward.

Canadianization of the Nunavut fishery has climbed to 75 per cent and will be higher in the future, he said.

Ward contends BFC is doing nothing different than what has already occurred in the southern fishery.

"Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island or New Brunswick wouldn't put up with this," Ward argued.

These three provinces own 95 to 100 per cent of the fishery in their adjacent waters, he said.

The BFC has 27 per cent of the turbot catch. In shrimp, Nunavut has 26 per cent of the harvest.

"In Nunavut we have high unemployment. We are in need of job creation and the majority of our adjacent resource goes to the southern fishery. This is unacceptable," said Ward.

Ward said he does not want to see any more 10-15 year deals marginalizing financial returns to Nunavut and minimalizing Northern employment.

Etchegary worries the deal will see foreign vessels moving into Newfoundland and Labrador waters to complete the shrimp quota.

He said there are several Canadian fishing companies willing to enter into the same agreement the BFC has entered into with the foreign vessels.

The deal to contract foreign vessels involves the reflagging of two ships -- the Sellas and the West Freezer.

The Sellas is owned by Royal Greenland. Forty-five percent of Royal Greenland is owned by the Government of Denmark, said Etchegary.

"We have entered into a charter agreement over a two-year period with an option at the end to buy the vessel if we wish," said Ward.

"It's a very straight-forward business deal. In the interim, we'll gain access to information and crewing and maximize Northern hiring," he said.

Ward did not comment on the West Freezer, whose managers were charged in Norway for fisheries violations, media reports state.

Etchegary is demanding the agreement with Royal Greenland be broken. "One way or another it has to be broken," said Etchegary.

Companies breaking off BFC

Pangnirtung Fisheries Ltd. and Cumberland Sound Fisheries are leaving the BFC over the deal, the CBC reports.

They would rather use a vessel from Nova Scotia and they say they are getting a better deal. Media reports also allege neither Pangnirtung nor Cumberland Sound Fisheries had a say in the deal.

A conflict resolution meeting between BFC and Pangnirtung and Cumberland Sound Fisheries has been set up by the Nunavut Fisheries Working Group, states a news release issued by Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.

Fisheries minister supports Baffin

The federal fisheries minister is standing behind the Baffin Fisheries Coalition decision.

Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated applauded the minister's stand on Thursday.

"This decision by Minister (Geoff) Regan is a significant step in the right direction to help us build Nunavut's commercial fishery," said NTI's second vice-president Raymond Ningeocheak.

"This is not a give-away," he said.