Brent Reaney
Northern News Services

Chesterfield Inlet (Aug 03/05) - Every year, Chesterfield Inlet is allowed about 90,000 pounds of char for commercial sale.

But most of this allotment goes unused because the community's small processing operation is not certified by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to sell fish outside of Nunavut.

Subsidized Fish Shipment Fishermen in the Kivalliq region are not currently able to take full advantage of a subsidized freight program for sending their catch to southern plants. If they can find a certified plant willing to process their catch, the Government of Nunavut will pay half of the shipping fees. Last year, only $6,000 of a total $50,000 earmarked for the Kivalliq was used, said GN fisheries and sealing director Wayne Lynch. "Anyone can access that," he said. The high cost of getting Nunavut's char to market makes it difficult for the product to compete with cheaper fish, such as Chilean salmon which can be found for as little as $1 per pound in southern grocery stores, Lynch said.

This year the community will sell about 18,000 pounds of char to Rankin Inlet's Kivalliq Arctic Foods, an operation which can certify the product before selling it.

"We could process more if we could have a buyer from out of Nunavut," said Simionie Sammurtok, the frustrated Chesterfield Inlet Hunters and Trappers Organization chairperson.

According Sammurtok, the char are sold for $2 per pound, with about a dollar of that going to the fisherman.

Because of the missing certification, the community regularly has to refuse requests from U.S. restaurant chains interested in purchasing char, Sammurtok said.

With a licence to sell down south, Sammurtok feels the community could run its small operation year-round.

In the short time the plant is open now, Sammurtok says it employs about five people, 12 hours a day, but he thinks that number could grow to as high as 15.

Since the tiny processing facility has gone without major repairs for about 20 years, Sammurtok said the facility would likely need a lot of work.

Wayne Lynch, the government of Nunavut director of fisheries and sealing, was unable to say what is needed before the facility can be certified by the CFIA until he sees the building.

But representatives from his department were expected to visit the community last week to discuss ways in which they might be able to help.

A number of communities have requested help from Lynch's department to set up fishery operations.

"But (Chesterfield's) a little bit farther ahead because they have a plant in place," he said.

A community proposal to operate a fish and meat processing plant in Chesterfield Inlet has also been submitted, Lynch said.

The cost of equipment and supplies - like freon, power, ice maker and water delivery - make the operation expensive to run, so harvesting 90,000 pounds of fish at $1 net cash inflow per pound may not prove to be economically viable.

"It's hard to determine," Lynch said of the operation's profit potential. "The more fish you may put in, the more you may lose."