CORAL HARBOUR
Coral Harbour took its first steps toward the development of a commercial fishery this past month.

John Pameolik shares his knowledge of fish-head bones with Tamara Kolit during an N-Camp course on fisheries and aquatic monitoring techniques near Coral Harbour this past month. - photo courtesy of Sarah Arnold

Eleven participants learned how to gather fish data through the Nunavut Community Aquatic Monitoring Program (N-Camp).

Fisheries sector specialist for Nunavut's Department of the Environment Sarah Arnold led the pilot program to teach participants basic fisheries and aquatic monitoring techniques.

The five-day course included classroom and field instruction in both science and Inuit Qaujimajatqangit principles.

An earlier pilot program was held on the mainland near Iglulik, which is also looking at developing a commercial fishery.

The Coral N-Camp focused on Canyon River (Quraluk), located on the North end of Southampton Island.

A third pilot will be held in Kugluktuk this coming August to study fish health and water quality in the Coppermine River.

Arnold said one community per region was chosen to pilot the program because each has different goals and challenges in terms of fisheries development.

She said a number of other communities have also requested to host a camp.

"Elsewhere in the Kivalliq, Repulse Bay has some interest in the camp and there may be an application from Baker Lake in connection to the watershed monitoring program it's developing.

"We may also hold a modified version of the program for the Kivalliq Science Camp this coming September.

"So, we anticipate we're going to be kept relatively busy with communities that have a direct need for these skills right now."

A community like Coral Harbour has to apply for an exploratory licence when it wants to open a commercial fishery in a new lake that doesn't have an existing quota.

Participants are then required to gather fish data from the area for the first five years of the licence.

Arnold said the first type of data to be collected is catch per unit effort, which measures how easily fish can be caught in the lake.

She said fishers record the time they set their nets in the water, when they are hauled and how many fish are caught each time.

"In Iglulik, we had three nets set for about 2.5 days and we caught 214 fish.

"The lakes are much deeper, and the ecosystem quite different, in Coral Harbour.

"In Coral, a bit more than 431 hours of fishing was recorded and 92 fish caught.

"If the fishing gets easier during the coming years it shows the population is healthy; not necessarily larger."

Participants also gather basic biological data during the five-year period, such as the length of a fish from its nose to the middle of its tail, its sex and weight.

The otoliths, or bones in a fish's ear, are removed and, when viewed under a microscope, show growth rings similar to those on the inside of a tree, which can be counted to show the age of a fish.

Arnold said the Coral learners will continue to gather the required data with support from her department.

She said the pilot program has the support of both hamlet council and Coral's Hunters and Trappers Organization.

"My department will monitor their data collection and we can tell, pretty much right away, if they're doing the measurements correctly.

"I'm confident our Coral learners can handle this task.

"They're all very experienced on the land and this is something they're quiet passionate about.

"They also shared a lot of knowledge about the lakes with us, which is quite important because science can tell us a portion of what's happening there, but it doesn't, necessarily give us the full picture."

Arnold said the pilot program is meant to be for, and done by, the communities.

She said she's very pleased with how that's happened so far.

"We've had excellent support from the communities to date, as well as a great response to, and interest in, the program.

"Community partnership has been a really important part of developing this program from the beginning.

"They reviewed the proposed curriculum before it was implemented and suggested a number of changes and additions.

"Now we're hoping they'll be able to use this as the first step in going much further with fisheries development in their regions."