NUNAVUT

The federal government is contemplating the Arctic Lakes population of Atlantic cod as a possible species of special concern because they are small in numbers and their habitat can easily be disturbed.

The federal government is looking at making the Arctic Lakes' population of Atlantic cod a species of special concern. The public has until Feb. 11 to submit their comments. Researcher David Hardie holds a cod in Ogac Lake in 2003. - photo courtesy of David Hardie

"It has no status right now," said Sam Stephenson, a biologist with the Species at Risk program of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Winnipeg.

The fish can only be found in three mostly landlocked lakes in the territory: Qasigialiminiq Lake across from Pangnirtung and deep in Cumberland Sound; Tariujarusiq Lake, which is the first lake on theh north arm of Brown Inlet in Cumberland Sound; and Ogac Lake on Frobisher Bay, 117 kilometres from Iqaluit.

The combined surface area of the three lakes is less than 20 square kilometres.

Under the Species at Risk Act, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada will determine if this Arctic population of cod needs to be added to the list.

The consultation period began on Dec. 3, 2010 and public comments can be submitted until Feb. 11, 2011.

If the cod is added to the list then the federal government has three years to prepare an action plan as to how the fish will be protected. There are no other automatic restrictions.

The only population information available dates back to a 1962 study done in Ogac Lake where it was estimated there were 500 reproductive cod and 10,000 immature cod.

"I would say that's still a fairly accurate reflection," said Dr. David Hardie, who spent time at the three lakes doing research for his PhD between 2003 and 2006.

Stephenson said the cod became trapped in the lakes about 5,000 to 6,000 years ago.

He said sea levels were higher at the time.

"We were just coming out of the ice age. Some of these fish were near shore and the land went up, the water went down and they eventually became trapped in these lakes," Stephenson said.

The cod are the only fish species in the lake and they don't have a lot of food available. What they do eat is brought in by the tide. They live only in the salt water part of the lake, which lies under five metres of fresh water. Due to their isolation, their gene pool is small and they have unique growth characteristics such as big heads with small bodies.

Attempts by News/North to find someone in Pangnirtung who has fished in any of these lakes did not net any results.

Hardie said from his research there was an outfitter based in Iqaluit during the late 1980s and early 1990s who brought people to fish there by float plane.

In his three field seasons at the lakes, he said he only saw people fishing at Ogac Lake and they were non-Inuit.

"They're (the landlocked cod) not in particularly good condition compared to marine cod and they're not very good tasting," Hardie said, based on what he's heard.

Besides the high cost of gas and time it takes to get to the lakes, he said you also have to have perfect timing with the tides.

He said, in the past in Pangnirtung the landlocked cod were used for bait to attract Greenland halibut.

"They are extremely susceptible to angling as they are the only fish in the lake and they only have each other to eat, really," said Hardie.

Stephenson said representatives of the federal government spoke with the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board at its quarterly meeting in September to inform it of the consultations. He said he is also trying to arrange meetings with the boards of the Amarok Hunter and Trappers Organization in Iqaluit and the Pangnirtung Hunters and Trappers Organization.

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