AUSUITTUQ/GRISE FIORD
It's a small sign of big hope for a community with little ability otherwise to generate its own economy. The Arctic Fishery Alliance discovered, by accident, an abundance of shrimp and whelks in the water at Grise Fiord and in Jones Sound not too far from the hamlet.

Grise Fiord residents sample shrimp caught in the water near the community, a find that is generating buzz about a fishing economy in the northernmost hamlet. - photo courtesy of Mark Akeeagok

"They put some whelk pots to the bottom of the ocean," said Iviq Hunters and Trappers Organization chairperson Jaypeetee Akeeagok. "They discovered that even shrimps were going inside these pots because they're in a significant amount. The whelk pots have larger mesh than shrimp pots, and if you start pulling it up, the hole is big enough for shrimps to fall out, and yet they were picking up shrimps in good quantity and good quality."

The find came as the fishery alliance ran an exploratory fishery looking for whelks, the animals that become escargot when plated, which it found in abundance as well. Plans for exploratory fishing for turbot had to be scrapped due to poor conditions.

"This is the first time this type of fishing gear (whelk pots) has been used in eastern Nunavut and the results are incredibly promising," stated an Arctic Fishery Alliance news release.

The traps captured three species of coldwater shrimp each day, several times yielding "hundreds of shrimp and whelks," the group reported.

Coldwater shrimp garner $1 per pound upon landing in Newfoundland and Labrador, while whelks command $.80 per pound.

"What they found was just a stone's throw from the community, where you or I could go for a Ski-Doo ride during winter," Akeeagok said. "In 10 minutes, you're there already. That's unique for this community. I'm quite happy about it."

The next step is to return with the proper shrimp nets and run a shrimp exploratory fishery, he said.

"If we use the proper equipment, the proper nets, what's in there?" he asked, noting the exploratory fishing also does not keep its lines or pots in the water as long as commercial fishers would, so the potential is even greater.

The Arctic Fishery Alliance needs federal approval to fish in the ocean, so this is an early step.

"It cannot go commercial overnight, unlike winning a lottery," Akeeagok said. "What we are hoping to do now, with the government's help, is order proper shrimping nets or pots, and then try it out, explore it to see if we can catch more with proper equipment. We already have (the equipment) to put the nets under the ice, it's just proper nets we need to get, and the permission to do exploratory fishing."

The most significant finds were actually inside the fiord, three to four kilometres from town, but shrimp were "practically everywhere in Jones Sound," he said.

After sampling both animals, Akeeagok said the whelk was "gorgeous," and the shrimp were "just like Baffin shrimps. It's great, beautiful, a change of diet for an evening. They are quite large."

Federal regulations meant the community was only able to sample a small amount of the shrimp and whelks caught, he said, but hopefully it won't be the last time they get to eat the animals. More importantly, he hopes it will generate jobs.

"If it's commercially viable, let's use it for this community to have economic benefits. We are one of the have-not communities in terms of decentralization, so we have to figure out how to generate economy for the people who want to be here."

The Arctic Fishery Alliance is owned by the communities and hunter and trappers organizations in Grise Fiord, Arctic Bay, Resolute Bay and Qikiqtarjuaq, and used some of the proceeds of its turbot quota to fund the study.