PANNIQTUUQ/PANGNIRTUNG
Even with a winter storm that brought Cumberland Sound ice fishing to a halt last month, this past fishery season in Pangnirtung is going down on the record books.
Pangnirtung Fisheries Ltd. chairman Johnny Mike, with a boat load of fish at the 2013 International Boston Seafood Show in March, said winter fishermen this year are "catching fish like no other years." - photo courtesy of Johnny Mike
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Pangnirtung Fisheries Ltd. chairman Johnny Mike said fishermen were "catching fish like no other years.
"What I can tell you is that there was an abundance of fish this winter," said Mike. "This winter all of us noticed there was a lot of fish in the Cumberland Sound, more than ever before I would say."
More than 600,000 pounds of turbot was delivered to the plant since the season started in mid-January, at a rate of up to 50,000 pounds a day -- double the plant's usual operating capacity.
"That's a lot of fish," said Mike. "So the catch rate per day went up too because of the abundance of turbot fish in the Cumberland Sound."
Pang seasonal fisherman Dave Sowdluapik told News/North he hooked 92 turbot on a single line this season --a bout twice as many as he'd ever caught before on a single line.
Favourable ice conditions also contributed to the record season.
"It all depends on the ice. We're not in control of Mother Nature but this year has been exceptional because the amount of fish that were coming into the fish net was kind of overwhelming," said Mike. "It took the whole capacity in the fish plant and the airline capacity."
The plant has paid out about $800,000 to the fishermen, at a rate of $1.30 per pound.
An additional $200,000 was spent on operations at the plant, which employed about 40 people this year.
Including fishermen helpers, around 200 people were involved directly in harvesting the turbot this year, said Mike.
The plant had anticipated more than 800,000 pounds of turbot could be landed this season, but a winter storm in March broke up the ice where many of the fishermen were fishing.
"It started off really well, with a lot of fish being caught by the fishermen, and then the winter storm came in. The winter storm cracked up the ice and most of the fishing area and therefore kind of stopped the fishing," said Mike.
The number of fishermen plunged to just four or five after the storm, from more than 100 licensed fishermen at the peak.
The amount of turbot caught translated to nearly 300 metric tonnes, a record in the plant's history, but still well below the regional quota, which allowed fishermen to catch up to 600 metric tonnes in the 1990s.
Back then the ice conditions were stronger, said Mike.
"In those days the ice formation at Cumberland Sound was a lot better. The ice formation we have now today is only about 40 to 50 kilometres out whereas before it used to be 60. So that's a lot of difference in the ice formation and that's where good fishing was," he said.
Plant general manager Michael Neumann said last year the plant purchased a record of 575,000 pounds of turbot, compared to just 108,000 pounds in 2011.
Every fish caught translates into new cash for the community and Government of Nunavut, said Mike, who is calling for more government grants to increase local participation in the harvest.
"I know for a fact that there are many who can be fishermen who might not have the whole equipment," he said. "If the government could make more funds available to fishermen to start buying whatever fishing equipment they need, make more grants available to fishermen, that would help a lot ... something that could come into place to help out those local fishermen to have more grants available for the fishermen."
Pangnirtung Fisheries Ltd. is a subsidiary of the Nunavut Development Corporation.
The plant cleans, grades, freezes and packages fish before it is flown to Montreal and sold to Asian markets.
