Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 27/99) - Kitikmeot Foods is processing its biggest catch of arctic char ever, general manager Michael Smart said.

"We've caught 42,000 kilograms (93,000 pounds) of char. To date, that is the best Kitikmeot Foods has ever done," Smart, who took over as general manager in July, 1998 from Calvin Schindle, said.

A portion of the catch, 1,980 kilograms (4,400 pounds) were weir caught. A weir is an enclosure used to trap fish. This method leads to less bruising of the char's flesh. It also means this fish does not struggle and does not drown.

Weir-caught fish command higher prices, Smart said.

"It's a definite selling feature."

The char were caught over three weeks to Sept. 8.

Some 9,000 kilograms of the catch will be sold fresh packed (not frozen) to various destinations -- Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto and Boston.

About 4,500 kilograms will be made into char jerky while a similar amount will be cold smoked. As for the jerky, 4,500 kilograms of char yields a finished weight of about 1,260 kilograms of jerky. Processing and packaging the jerky is labour intensive.

Between 6,750 kilograms and 9,000 kilograms will be sold as fillets. The remainder of the catch will be sold as a whole-dressed product -- that means gutted with head and tail remaining.

Some of the catch will be made into biffie, traditional dried fish.

The fish were caught from six rivers located 70 to 160 kilometres from Cambridge Bay.

Fish packed in Cambridge Bay one day can be in a Boston buyers hands the next day, Smart said.

Market dictates the price, but the cost at the Kitikmeot plant for frozen char fillets is $8.88 per kilogram ($4 per pound).

In Yellowknife, whole-dressed char run about $15 a kilogram or $6.75 a pound.

"I do a major portion of the sales from here," Smart said.

Prior to taking the plant's general manager's position, Smart managed the its char fishery for several years.

Smart said the plant's operation is "critical to the community," not only because it provides a source of food for sale but also because it employs residents.

Some 22 people participated in the recent catch.