Christine Kay
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (July 15/02) - The Amarok Hunters and Trappers Association's attempt to close the Sylvia Grinnell River has led Iqaluit resident Glenn Williams to decide not to offer his jet boat service to tourists this summer.

"Until we can work together and resolve the situation, I won't put my customers in a confrontational situation," said Williams.

The problem, however, is that Williams does not know when or if this sort of co-operation will happen. He said he has tried to discuss the situation with the HTA several times and each time he has been ignored.

HTA chair David Ell said otherwise.

"I talked to him several times and he's more than welcome," said Ell.

Williams has been running what he calls eco-tourism -- sight-seeing trips up the river for the last three years. The trips normally take place from late June to late July. The ban this season means financial loss for Williams. But, he said he loves the river and the last thing he wants is to destroy it.

"The river is very dynamic. It's spectacular, pristine. There's no signs of human activity along it," said Williams.

"I try to keep it that way. Anything I find I pick up and bring back to throw it out."

Williams does not believe his activity on the river harms the fish or their habitat.

HTA members and elders believe otherwise.

A legal issue

"I've even gone to HTA and asked them to come out and see where I go and how I operate. I'm getting ignored. I have legal rights to access the river," said Williams.

And the HTA is now attempting to legally keep everyone, including Williams, off the river. At the moment the ban only applies to the HTA's members, but Ell said they are in the process of expanding that. He refused to comment on that process.

Ell also said the HTA had started a three-year study of the fish and the river in conjunction with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the University of Manitoba.

The HTA ban will be applied for a five-year period. All recreational boating, including kayaking, is forbidden, as is netting and snagging fish. Reel and rod fishing and swimming are still permitted.