Iqaluit (Jun 12/06) - The federal fisheries minister has cast a wide net in dispersing the territory's 2,500 metric tonne additional turbot quota off Baffin Island.

The Baffin Fisheries Coalition and the Nattivak Hunters and Trappers Organization in Qikiqtarjuaq will fish up to 700 tonnes apiece in zone 0A.

The Iqaluit-based Qikiqtaaluk Corporation and Pangnirtung's Cumberland Sound Fisheries in Pangnirtung can land up to 500 tonnes.

The final 100 tonnes is being devoted to the inshore fishery.

Asked if he is satisfied with his group's share, Sam Nuqingaq, secretary/treasurer for Nattivak, replied, "Definitely."

Nattivak's fishing company, Masiliit Corporation, is chartering a vessel, the Genny and Doug, from Labrador-based Clarence Cabot. They have intentions of taking ownership of that boat in the future.

Two other boats from Clarence Cabot and one larger vessel from the Labrador Fishermen's Union Shrimp Company will also be used to help Qikiqtarjuaq reach its catch limit. The additional quota will create several new jobs for local fishers as well, Nuqingaq said.

Joopa Sowdluapik, chairman of the board for Cumberland Sound Fisheries, is also happy with his organization's share of the quota.

After years of contracting fishing outfits from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to fish in area 0B, Cumberland Sound is working out a royalty deal with Baffin Fisheries Coalition to harvest the new 0A turbot quota as well as the OB quota, according to Sowdluapik.

It will better benefit the local economy, he said.

"This year, we looked at what we could do in Nunavut, for Nunavut," he said.

Cumberland Sound doesn't have its own fishing boat, and it would need a larger allotment to make purchasing one feasible, said Sowdluapik.

"We can't let a big $20 million vessel sit around doing nothing," he said.

However, Pangnirtung's fish processing plant will inherit more work through the additional turbot catch.

The Baffin Fisheries Coalition (BFC) will be acquiring an additional vessel to keep up with the increased demand, BFC president Ben Kovic said. It will result in at least five or six new jobs, he added.

Overall, the new quota should result in an additional 15-30 jobs and a $2.5 million boost to the Nunavut economy, Wayne Lynch, director of sealing and fishing, estimated in May.

He added that the figure would be even larger if the territory had the capacity and resources to land and process all the fish for itself.

The Government of Nunavut estimates that, up to this year, direct annual income from the fisheries was worth between $7.5 million and $9.5 million.