PANNIQTUUQ/PANGNIRTUNG - After a trip to Greenland to see its turbot fishery, fishers from Pangnirtung returned home with a new hope they might be able to fish for turbot in Cumberland Sound during the summer.

"It looks like I might have a bright future in the summer fishery," said fisher Norman Mike.

Mike, along with four other fishers from the community, went to Ilulissat, Greenland, from Oct. 23 to 29 to learn the skills and techniques that are used on the other side of the Davis Strait.

The Nunavut fishers were joined by Ron Brown and Angela Young from the Department of Environment.

Pangnirtung has a growing offshore turbot fishery in Cumberland Sound. For that area, 500 tonnes of fish are allotted for the year, and Mike estimates 200 tonnes of turbot are caught in the winter. The quota for Disko Bay is much higher at 8,800 tonnes annually.

While fishers have been operating out of Pang for years, in 1986, two Greenlandic fishers visited the community to teach residents how to fish for turbot using longline technology.

Now the focus is on how to develop the summer fishery in the community.

"We got essentially another perspective," said Young, a sector specialist, fisheries and sealing division, with the Department of Environment in Pangnirtung.

One main difference in Disko Bay from Cumberland Sound is that smaller boats can be used.

Young said they are able to use boats as small as 5.5 metres or 18 feet.

For the last several summers, a summer turbot test fishery has been done in the sound using boats approximately 15 metres and 30 metres in length.

She said they are able to use smaller boats because they have to carry less gear and don't have to deal with challenges like high tides. In the sound, the tide differential could be as high as eight metres.

"It was an eye-opener to see the fishery conducted in such small boats," said Brown, manager, fisheries and sealing division, with the Department of Environment in Iqaluit.

Mike said you won't see him trying a small boat in his area as the tide is too high.

Fishers in Greenland can use smaller lines, Brown said, because they don't have a bycatch problem with Greenland shark. Larger strong lines have to be used in Pangnirtung so as not to lose the fish and in case you catch a shark.

He also said fishing takes place much closer to shore in much shallower water. Young estimates the Greenlandic fishers were fishing in 365 metres (200 fathoms) of water while fish are usually found in Pang in 914 metres (500 fathoms) of water.

"The way they fish in Greenland, they get five minutes out of town, they are right on the shoreline. Here since we get low and high tides we have to go further out," said Mike.

They also got to visit a fish processing facility.

With poor ice conditions, the number of fishers participating in the winter fishery has declined.

"We are only really seven fishermen now, they're used to be 100," said Mike.

Expanding the summer fishery would be great for Mike and the other fishers and the local economy but certain things would have to be done first.

"We would need bigger boats and funding," he said.

Fishers to go on the trip were chosen using two methods - by going to the hunter and trappers association and asking them to submit names and asking Pangnirtung Fisheries for the names of the top five fishers over the last couple of years. Names were then drawn from a hat.

Now comes the time to evaluate what they saw. Brown said the department along with fishers from Pangnirtung will discuss where things will go from here.

"Whether or not we will do a small scale test or we might have to start off with larger boats," he said.

He said, all in all, the experience was a great success for all those involved.

The plan is to have two Greenland fishers visit Pangnirtung next summer to continue building the relationship between the two countries in the industry.

Mike said the trip was interesting and he did learn a lot including the fact the Greenlandic fishers are very progressive.

He said in Greenland, only fishermen are able to get shares in the companies or organizations such as equivalents to the Baffin Fisheries Coalition.

The trip was funded with help from the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and the Department of Environment. The Greenlandic Fisherman's union, KNAPK, was the main contact and partner once the group arrived in Greenland.

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