HAY RIVER
The excitement over morel mushrooms - more precisely, the money that can be made harvesting them - appears to be growing if last week's information session is any indication.

Bruce Green displays a model of a morel mushroom and dried mushrooms at an information session in Hay River on March 17. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

There were 78 people at the March 17 meeting in the Legion, which was the biggest turnout to date at ongoing info sessions by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment about morel mushrooms - an in-demand delicacy around the world.

"There's huge interest from citizens, and that's why ITI is involved in this," said Scott McQueen, who works on the traditional and natural resource economy with ITI in Yellowknife. "It's a good economic opportunity for northern residents."

The gathering heard from two mushroom experts - Joachim Obst of Yellowknife and Bruce Green of Hay River.

Obst told one story that seemed to particularly capture the attention of the crowd - about a woman who harvested morel mushrooms in the Fort Simpson area last summer.

"She harvested for 34 days, only in the afternoons for three or four hours," he said. "She made $25,000 Canadian cash."

The department is presenting these information sessions because the extreme forest fire season last year in the NWT bodes well for this fungi.

"This year, we are expecting a huge crop out there because we have so many fire sites and for sure some of them will produce large numbers of morel mushrooms," said Obst.

However, he also said morel mushrooms are not well understood, and the growth depends on spring weather conditions and moisture in the ground.

Green also said there is some mystery about the growth of morel mushrooms.

"Forest fires are the most reliable event to produce heavy crops of morels," he said, but he added there is no guarantee.

The best weather would be a wet spring, said Green. "If there's lots of moisture, we'll get a really good crop. If it's dry, maybe not so good."

The Hay River mushroom expert also said there is no exact answer to when morel mushrooms will first start to appear, but said it will likely be from early to mid June in the Hay River area.

Green said some people may wonder why morel mushrooms are so sought after.

"They have a wonderful flavour to them, and for that reason they're shipped all over the world," he explained.

Both Obst and Green cautioned mushroom harvesters about poison mushrooms including what's called a false morel.

The two experts advised that harvesting with someone with experience is a good idea.

Obst said good pickers were making $500 or more a day last year in the Fort Simpson area and he said a fit person can easily harvest 70 to 80 pounds a day.

"Most people in Fort Simpson last year, they only went out for the afternoon for three or four hours and they picked about 10 pounds per hour, so 30 or 40 pounds per person."

They then sold the mushrooms at last year's price of $14 a pound to southern buyers waiting on the highway.

However, Obst said people can make more money than that by doing some extra work and drying the mushrooms, which can then sell for about $350 a pound.

It usually takes up to nine pounds of fresh mushrooms to make one pound of dried morels.

"That's when you really make money," said Obst, who also said the dried mushrooms can be sold to a buyer or a wholesaler.

Obst also gave a lengthy and detailed description of morel mushroom biology, the equipment needed for harvesting and how to identify various mushrooms.

Vanin Gill was interested in what she heard at the meeting.

"I'm actually contemplating going out and seeing if I can identify mushrooms and make a little money at it," she said.

Gill had never before heard of morel mushrooms.

"Basically, the only mushrooms I ever eat come out of the grocery store," she quipped.

Gill thinks harvesting would be good to try on weekends for someone who works Monday to Friday.

"If there's money to be made, why not?" she said.

Matt Rollison said morel mushrooms could be an opportunity to take advantage of a natural resource for a little hard work.

"I think, if it's as good as they say with the amount of burn that we had last year, it would be a worthwhile endeavour, for sure," he said.

The meeting was an "eye-opener" for a lot of people, said Rollison. "I mean I didn't realize how much can be made."

It is expected that this year's morel mushroom harvest in the NWT will attract pickers - possibly up to 2,000 - from all over the country.

Along with the community meetings, the information initiative will include a handbook with detailed information on identifying, picking, buying and selling the mushrooms, and so-called walking tours at a camp in a burn area.