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NUNAVUT
Turbot and sharks were tagged by Fisheries officials during the summer and will be studied to determine the viability of additional retail fisheries for Nunavut.

Nunavut's research vessel, MS Nuliajuk, launched this summer, is yielding good results from its first season at sea. The vessel tagged Greenland sharks and turbot to track movements, and worked to determine tools to reduce accidental of shark catches during turbot fishing. - photo courtesy of Kevin Hedges

"Several hundred animals have tags on their backs now for a multi-year survey that will give us data to provide advice on quotas and changes in quotas," said Kevin Hedges of Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Arctic Aquatic Research division. He was the chief scientist aboard Nuliajuk this summer.

"Are the turbot migrating in and out of the fjord, and how deep? Those tags will help (answer that)," said Wayne Lynch, Nunavut's director of Fisheries and Sealing. "We put acoustic sensors across Cumberland Sound, so as the tagged fish cross, it will tell us their direction, when it passed, how many and how often. This will give us an idea of the movement in Cumberland Sound, and hopefully that information can be translated to other areas as we expand."

The research is also looking into how to reduce the bycatch of Greenland shark, what kinds of other fisheries exist in the territory, where currents run and what kind of material composes the seafloor at various points. But its most important work is determining the viability of the retail fisheries.

"The ultimate goal is we find lots of fish and communities can build fisheries that are sustainable," Lynch said. "It will take time, but we take those steps now to help communities know what they have and how they can get it. With turbot, we went from 1,500 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes in 10 years, building a $60-million industry. We've proven it can be done."

The Nuliajuk, the $3.2 million Nunavut-based research vessel launched in July, spent the summer in Cumberland Sound near Pangnirtung and offshore near Qikiqtarjuaq and Clyde River to support the work.

"In Qikiqtarjuaq, we were looking for species like turbot and clams. We found some preliminary stuff, but the reports aren't completed. We can't make a definitive figure on volumes yet, because it will take some time to do the analysis," Lynch said. "Enough was found to spark our interest to return next year and do a more aggressive plan in both Qikiqtarjuaq and Clyde River."

That's good news for Qikiqtarjuaq's economic development officer Leelee Kakkee, who was keen to hear the prospects for a fishing industry in the hamlet.

"It would be great for the locals," Kakkee said, comparing the prospects to the industry in Pangnirtung, where there is a fish processing plant. "There aren't many jobs here, and it would be great for the guys who want to be fishing."

Nunavut's Department of Economic Development and Transportation is in a three-year partnership with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Ocean Tracking Network, which includes the University of Waterloo, Dalhousie and Memorial Universities, and the University of Victoria.

In some respects, Lynch said the summer research exceeded expectations.

"I've heard stories that it takes two or three years to get to the state we're at now," Lynch said. "We did 100 per cent of what we said we were going to do this summer. Next summer, we hope to sit down with all the stakeholders and lay out a plan that expands on what we did. Hopefully, every year will get better."

However, not everything went as planned during Nuliajuk's maiden season.

"The first year with a new vessel, you expect some things to go wrong," Hedges said. "We had problems with the water maker, with the hydraulics, and we had to figure out the logistics of how to store gear, bait hooks and put in tags in the space we had."

Yet Lynch said he is content with what it has accomplished so far.

"We have a short season, and we have a huge territory," he said. "A few weeks in one area is not enough, but it has sparked our interest. No doubt there are fish in that area, but where and how much are the questions."

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