HAY RIVER
On the first day of February, a training program is set to begin in Hay River to teach young people the skills needed to enter the commercial fishery on Great Slave Lake.

The Commercial Fishermen Training Program is a joint initiative of Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre and the NWT Fishermen's Federation.

"The goal is to increase the number of fishers to create an entire new generation of commercial fishers," said Shari Caudron, executive director of Soaring Eagle.

She said this year there will be eight months of training – first in a classroom at Soaring Eagle and then hands-on experience actually fishing on the lake.

The training is targeted to those 18 to 29 years of age.

Caudron said the program will begin with entrepreneurship training in February and then the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) will deliver a bridge watch program over 11 weeks.

The program teaches students how to keep a lookout, steer a vessel, operate communications systems and respond in an emergency, among other things.

Afterward, the participants will transition into on-the-job training as soon as the summer fishing season starts.

Caudron believes it will be the first training of its kind in Hay River.

"BCIT has done some training up in the territories before but from what I understand this is the first full-out bridge watchman program," she said. "This is like the entry-level position to get on board a vessel."

The goal is to offer such training for young people for three years.

"We want them to become their own entrepreneurs, to run their own vessels and increase the amount of catches in the NWT," said Caudron.

While the program is to be offered in Hay River, it's possible the participants may have to be sent to Vancouver for two weeks for specialized training on firefighting on ships and on communicating by radio.

"But that's still to be determined at this time," said Caudron.

One of the main focuses of the training will be industry safety, she said.

"We're looking at a whole new generation of commercial fishers and so the first thing that we want to do is teach safety on the job."

Resumes are currently being accepted from young people interested in the training.

"We're looking at approximately eight participants for the program," said Caudron.

She met with the Northwest Territories Fishermen's Federation in the fall to discuss the idea of the training.

"They had talked about training and employment strategies for increasing the number of commercial fishers," she said.

"There was a mutual agreement between the fishermen's federation and Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre that we would move forward in partnership to deliver the training in Hay River and develop up to a three-year plan."

Caudron is seeking funding for the program from the GNWT and the federal government, and she is confident it will be provided.

Andrew Cassidy, a consultant helping the NWT Fishermen's Federation with its strategy to revitalize the Great Slave Lake commercial fishery, said the training is part of that strategy.

"It actually hits on a couple of the different strategic action areas that they're looking to address," he said.

"One of the things is a bit of a labour shortage. The fishermen are finding there's less and less help out there, and so this will hopefully help provide that skilled labour, that experienced labour for the fishermen."

Cassidy added there has also been a decline in the number of fishers on Great Slave Lake as they retire.

"There's still a lot of quota that's available on the lake to be harvested and so this is a way to keep the numbers up there, keep the industry alive, and hopefully introduce a new generation of fishers to commercial fishing on Great Slave Lake," he said.

Cassidy added it is hoped the trainees can enter the fishery as soon as they complete the training.

"What we're hoping is that, at the end of the program, the successful participants will be able to step right into employment in the industry, whether they're jumping on with some of the other crews or whether we're seeing an increase in the number of boats out on the lake," he said.

Cassidy said some of the trainees will hopefully apply for their own licences to fish on Great Slave Lake, either right off the bat or a few years down the road.

"We're hoping to set up the participants with that skill set so that, if they do decide to start their own small business as a commercial fisherman, they can," he said.

"Otherwise, there's certainly a very, very hands-on, practical open-water fishing season so they'll gain the experience of being in the boat and the various workflows and operations that are required for commercial fishing."

Cassidy is anticipating most of the participants in this year's training will come from the Hay River region.

The fishermen's federation is hoping the training program will also open people's eyes to the rewards of a career in fishing, said the consultant.

"It's not your regular Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, but it's certainly rewarding in its own right and people might choose to excel in this area."

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