Iqaluit (June 09/03) - Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI) wants to work with federal fisheries minister Robert Thibault to find a solution to inequitable shrimp and turbot allocations.

NTI vice-president Raymond Ningeocheak said the recent "escalating and demoralizing exchange" with Ottawa over Northern shrimp quotas won't advance Inuit goals.

That goal is to achieve access to "a major share of the marine resources in waters off Nunavut," he said.

The Department of Fisheries and Ocean's recent decision to allocate only 51 per cent of a 2,000 tonne shrimp quota increase to Nunavut drew an angry reaction throughout the territory.

Premier Paul Okalik called it an "appalling injustice" and accused Ottawa of condemning Nunavummiut to poverty and unemployment.

Nunavut's share of the shrimp allocation in its adjacent waters is just 19 per cent.

Allocations in Southern jurisdictions typically range from 80 to 90 per cent.

Ningeocheak said it is time to redress that imbalance.

"The federal government should reconsider the approach we proposed last year in collaboration with Makivik Corporation and the Nunavut government."

That includes revising section 15.3.7 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA) to "clarify the intent of the adjacency principle and government obligations to achieve it."

NTI also wants Ottawa to give Inuit access to federal support programs available to First Nations fishers to enable the territory to assemble its own fishing fleet.

And a "long term process" should be developed to ensure Nunavummiut realize the 80 per cent marine resource share typical in the South.

"NTI is prepared to commit to a multi-party process that would see full implementation of the principle of adjacency phased in," he said.

This would include exploring "practical, affordable measures to build up Nunavut's commercial fishery."

The NTI said last week it is hopeful a meeting with Thibault can be arranged "shortly" to discuss the initiative.