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NUNAVUT - The Arctic Fishery Alliance has unveiled an ambitious plan to wade deep into Nunavut's commercial inshore fishery.

The group - a recent partnership between hunters and trappers organizations in Resolute, Grise Fiord, Arctic Bay and led by Qikiqtarjuaq - requested a substantial chunk of this year's turbot quota at the Nunavut Fisheries Advisory Committee forum last week.

"It has always been the objective of the Government of Nunavut to have Nunavut-owned fisheries, independent of foreign or southern interests," said Lootie Toomasie, chair of the Nattivak Hunters and Trappers in Qikiqtarjuaq.

"We are pleased to report that we are within a few months of achieving this important objective, pending the decision of NWMB (Nunavut Wildlife Management Board) to allocate quota to our fishing enterprise and decisions of Inuit and GN agencies to assist in funding the enterprise."

The alliance requested 2,500 metric tonnes of turbot in zone 0A, and 1,000 metric tonnes in 0B.

The total turbot allocation for Nunavut interests in 0A is 6,500, 4,700 of which was fished by the non-profit Baffin Fisheries Coalition last year.

Nattivak Hunters and Trappers broke away from the coalition in 2004 to start its own business.

The total Nunavut quota in 0B is 1,500.

Cumberland Sound Fisheries was the biggest stakeholder in that zone last year, with 750.

With its profits - which alliance fisheries advisor Harry Earle forecasted to be $1 million after three years of fishing - the group plans to create community trusts for each of its members, to fund social and economic development projects.

"The quota will benefit the HTAs and residents," Toomasie said.

Their plan includes the purchase of three freezer factory vessels, one of which would be co-owned with a Labrador-Innu group.

The group has also secured a verbal agreement with the GN's Department of Economic Development and Transportation to fund a feasibility study for an offloading facility in Qikiqtarjuaq, according to Earle.

"We started talking about this in 1997," Toomasie said. "This has been the vision, that the community will be the location of an offloading site."

The business would call for between 60 and 100 trained crew to work on the ships and at the offloading facility throughout the year.

Since 2005, 134 students have completed Nunavut Fisheries Consortium training for fishing vessels and factories, according to its 2007-2008 annual report.

However, it's not known how many remain in the trade, and a number of working vessels are already in play.

The advisory council forum was part of the NWMB's new allocation policy, in which applications are to be made through an "open and transparent process."

"This is the very first time. In the past generally the (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) and the NWMB received the applications and dealt with them without the public and without this advisory process," said Ray Andrews, the committee chair.

The committee will make a recommendation to the NWMB, which passes its recommendation to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, whose federal minister makes the final decision.

A total of four parties have requested quota this year: the alliance, Baffin Fisheries Coalition, Qikiqtaaluk Corporation and a joint submission by the Pangnirtung Fisheries, Nunavut Development Corporation and Cumberland Sound Fisheries.