In search of the best char on Baffin Island . . .
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Snow is swirling everywhere, enclosing the landscape as Simon Qamanirq sets out, his snowmobile emitting a harsh undulating whine, largely drowned out by the roar of the blizzard.
Simon, an Inuk, is leaving Igloolik, a small village of 2,000 to the northwest of Baffin Island, Nunavut, and heading to Iqalugasugvik, a six to eight-hour journey to catch Arctic char. He’s accompanied by two youth from town, ages 12 and 15, who he is teaching to fish. Two other friends are along, all packed onto two snowmobiles each pulling a traditional Inuit sled, or qamutiq.
Snowmobile silhouetted against the setting arctic sun. – All photos courtesy of Curtis Jones and the Lake to Plate Project.
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They cross the frozen Arctic Ocean to get from Igloolik Island to a fiord that cuts 60 kilometers into the north of Baffin Island. The snowmobiles traverse a formidable landscape, a wilderness of endless white ice, cold and eddies of snow blowing across their path. At one point they pass within ten yards of a mother polar bear and her two cubs. The bear is enormous, at least 500 pounds but, luckily, in the near white-out conditions she is quickly left behind. At the head of the fiord in a shallow valley is Lake Iqalugasugvik (appropriately, it means “place of fish.” They stay for two days in a cabin built by the Igloolik Hunters and Trappers Association with snow covered hills on either side. Not a tree is in sight.
The weather clears, the sun shines during the short days and temperatures hover near -30 C: perfect conditions for ice fishing although the sun barely arcs above the horizon. Simon and his team augur two holes, not a trivial job as the ice is over four feet thick. A string of nets is lowered into the frigid water. After six hours the nets are pulled to the surface holding about 30 char, which freeze almost instantly. That night, which comes early in March, they fish under the aqsarniit (Inuktitut for Aurora Borealis or northern lights) with green waves swirling across the night sky. The Inuit believe that souls are dancing in the sky.
Lake ice by headlamp at night under aqsarniit (Inuktitut for Aurora Borealis).
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By the end of the stay a total of 150 char fill the snowmobile wagons and the youngsters are proud to have caught so many fish.
Selecting a spot for the fishing hole.
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Arctic char can live in both salt- and fresh-water. The char Simon catches every winter are 10 pounds on average and typically 16 inches long, and have migrated from the Arctic Ocean. Arctic char is a close relative of both salmon and trout. Its appearance and fat content is similar to salmon, but has a flavour that is uniquely its own. Typically, Arctic char tastes milder than salmon but richer than trout. According to Simon, “Iqalugasugvik has the best char on Baffin Island.”
After a long snowmobile ride, Simon and the others are back in Igloolik, a small vibrant village that mixes cultural traditions from three regions. Most of the 2,000 Inuit inhabitants practice hunting and fishing, while living in what southerners, who seldom visit, consider isolated and harsh conditions. Yet the Arctic has a complex, long history. At the island of Igloolik, for example, archaeological remains go back 4,000 years.
Auguring a fishing hole at night.
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Not only have the Inuit pioneered how to survive under difficult conditions, they have developed a culture rich with art, dance, stories and music. The arrival of colonists and modern technology have influenced the traditional lifestyle, and the Inuit, like Indigenous peoples throughout North America, have suffered and are struggling to maintain their cultural traditions.
This identity, however, is surviving. For example, Inuktitut is the most-spoken language although English is becoming a common second language. Furthermore, the region has great natural beauty. Igloolik and the Inuit culture comes alive in the summer months when the sun never sets, with music festivals and performances by Artcirq, the only Inuit circus troupe in the world. The Inuit gained formal recognition of their connection with their ancestral homelands in the Canadian Arctic when Nunavut (meaning our land) was declared a Canadian Territory in 1999.
Simon is generous with his harvests and provides about one-third of his catch to friends, family, elders, and the hunters and trappers associations for community distribution. He says, “Elders think the smaller fish are tastier, so I always save the small fish for them.”
Arctic char on lake ice.
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The remainder of Simon’s catch, about 100 Arctic char, goes to Lake to Plate, a fast-growing program which connects Simon and other Inuit fishers with consumers who pay a fair price. About 40% of that char stay in Nunavut. The rest go south, where the Skipper Otto Community Supported Fishery has developed a method of selling the catch direct to families with the fish paid for before delivery. The program builds an ongoing bridge between the fishers and the families. The Lake to Plate program had 11 Inuit fishers in 2021 and this expected to grow to 14 in the next year. In this way, the fishers get not only a fair price for their catch, but also a reliable income that provides stability.
At present, Skipper Otto has 40 fishers supplying fish across Canada, which is sold to 7,600 families on a regular basis. In addition to the Inuit, there are an additional 14 Indigenous fishers from British Columbia.
Fishing on the lake at night under northern lights.
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William Hyndman, the CEO of Project Nunavut, who started and manages Lake to Plate says, “I like this project. It uses Inuit knowledge about a traditional food, and they know more about this than anyone in the world. And the focus is on the community and hunters.”
In addition to Simon’s skills on the land (he guided Richard Branson on his dogsled tour of Baffin Island), he is also a renowned artist, carving animals and hunting scenes from soapstone, whale bone, caribou bone and antler. Simon is also a musician and sings, drums, and plays both the guitar and the harmonica.
Simon Qamanirq dressed for the chill.
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Avatittinnik Kamatsiarniq
Simon exemplifies ‘Avatittinnik Kamatsiarniq’, Inuktitut for ‘respect and care for the land, animals and the environment.’ This concept of living in harmony with nature is taught by Inuit elders to their children and grandchildren through their culture.
Find out more about the Lake to Plate Project and the Skipper Otto Community Supported Fishery. For travel planning and research don’t hesitate to contact Nunavut Tourism.
Mickeys Camp – gas, fish, ice, malamutes, wild rice, explosives …
I’m one of the fortunate of the southern Canadians who has seen at least a little of the North. On my first trip to Iqaluit I remember seeing a young Inuit woman, at the airport, who had a baby in what looked like the hood of her parka. She was beautiful and hummed a tune to sooth her baby. That’s when I first realized that this was a place unlike any other in Canada, or perhaps the world. If it wasn’t so expensive to fly there I would love to take my wife so that she could experience it too. I also tasted Arctic Char for the first time up north. Your description is very accurate. It’s like salmon but lighter and better.
Thanks for sharing that with us Glen. And yes, travel within Canada costs WAAAY more than we’d like !