Testing the Waters- Nunavut Style!

From the desk of Jimmy Jacquard:

Aarluk has just embarked on a very exciting project with the Fisheries and Sealing Division of the Government of Nunavut's Department of Environment. The goal of the project is to develop and pilot a training program for monitoring water quality, aquatic invertebrate species, and fish populations in Nunavut. The training will result in individuals from Nunavut communities becoming certified in both marine and freshwater monitoring procedures.

The program has been named N-CAMP. You may be thinking "OH NO! Not another acronym to add to the already exhaustive list that exists in Nunavut!" Well, at least this one makes sense, and it will be easy to remember because, unlike many of the acronyms we find in Nunavut, CAMP is a real word that will be easy to remember. N-CAMP stands for Nunavut - Community Aquatic Monitoring Program. The logo is in the final stages of development and will be unveiled soon. Also, there is a website that is currently under development www.nunavutwaters.ca and all the information pertaining to this exciting new program will soon be available.

The goal is to equip people from communities with the skills needed to gather the necessary data required to conduct an exploratory fishery on a species with commercial potential. We will be working very closely with a number of organizations and stakeholders, including the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and industry partners. The skills that will be acquired through this new certification program will also develop community capacity and make people more employable. Being able to use and read field meters for pH, conductivity, turbidity and dissolved oxygen is also useful and necessary in mining exploration, contaminant clean-up and climate change impact assessments.

Dissolve Oxygen meter- Hey, fish need to breathe too!

How cool does this sound? Camped out on the shores of pristine Hansine Lake on Southampton Island, iridium based satellite phone in one pocket, high tech underwater camera in another. Holding a d-ring collapsible kicknet with 500 micron carrying bag in one hand, a specialized knife in the other that is about to remove the otolith from a freshly caught char. As the sun beats down, and char is cooking on the coleman stove, you record your data, and think of how lucky you were for taking the N-CAMP certification program.

More to follow…