From dinghy fisherman to powerful position: What does Pele Blytmann want?

Pele Blytmann tries to find the right place to stand while the photographer adjusts the camera and asks him to move a little closer to the large office window.

The view stretches out behind him, but he seems more concerned with what to do with his hands. It’s clear that he’s not used to being surrounded by journalists and flashbulbs. He stands a little stiffly until the question is asked. Then he loosens up.

Don't you get restless sometimes?

- Of course, says Pele Blytmann and laughs, while her gaze drifts towards the horizon.

It's not surprising that the 60-year-old chairman can get restless. He has spent his entire working life at sea. It's still in his body.

- Since my childhood, I have worked as a fisherman all my life.

As a young man, he was a crew member on a small cutter in Ilulissat, where they fished for halibut. Later, ten years on ocean-going shrimp trawlers followed.

From 1995 until the election in October last year, he worked for 30 years as a dinghy fisherman. The sea was his everyday life. Now it's an office.

Who is Pele?

Before you visit a source as a journalist, it is customary to do research. But if you search online for Pele Blytmann, you will find only a few articles from his time as chairman.

– I am not a prominent person, says Pele Blytmann briefly.

Pele Blytmann is a true latecomer of seven siblings. His mother was 42 years old and his father 60 years old when they had him.

He grew up in a working-class family, but has always worked in fishing.

Why did you become a fisherman?

– I don’t know. My father was a worker. As a child, I was invited by older people who fished for cod with lines. They were probably the ones who founded my interest in fishing, says Pele.

Tried to go ashore, but always returned to the sea

When Pele was a crew member on a cutter, he developed breathing problems due to oily paint in the ship's hold, and the doctor forbade him from sailing.

When he could no longer sail, he worked at a fish factory in Ilulissat. However, he did not stay in the job for long, because he became restless when he saw the fishermen coming and going.

– I had a lot of freedom as a fisherman, without being controlled by a clock. So I only worked for two months.

– When I got a taxi in 2008, I had also decided to go ashore. In the winter I drive a taxi, but when spring approaches, I can't resist it and return to the sea, says Pele.

Chairman without experience in organizational work

He has now been chairman for five months of the largest fishing and trapping association in Greenland, KNAPK. From a day of freedom in the fresh air at sea to now sitting indoors in the office in Nuuk.

Members pay 1.5 percent of their purchases to the organization, of which 0.25 percent is returned to the individual members' local branches at the end of the year.

“But when I joined the association, unfortunately we couldn't even afford that,” says Pele Blytmann.

He has previously been a board member and chairman of IAPP, KNAPK's local branch in Ilulissat. During his time in IAPP, he became critical of the organization's lack of communication.

“It's as if letters are sent anywhere, but they are never answered. That's not nice,” says Pele Blytmann.

He stood for election at the association's general meeting in October and defeated the previous chairman Nikkulaat Jeremiassen. He was aware that the association he took over was in financial trouble, but was still surprised when he stepped in.

– I didn't expect it to be this bad.

The association is in a critical financial situation, and this has several consequences.

– But when I joined the organization, unfortunately we couldn't even afford that, says Pele Blytmann.

A difficult start

The branches continue to demand their percentage to this day. According to Pele Blytmann, they are working with accountants and the bank to find a solution and secure the organization's finances. He is sure that it will not be long before the branches receive their percentage.

– We are now on the verge of hope, he says.

After the association's financial problems were made public, the former director Vittus Qujaukitsoq was dismissed, and Niels Boassen is acting director for the time being.

– It is important to have a director you can work well with. Here, it is not appropriate if you have a director you cannot work with, says Pele Blytmann without further comment.

He says that they have restructured to achieve better communication with the local branches, as he has campaigned for better communication. The organization plans for financial management to be handled by an external auditor in the future.

– We want to structure the administrative work. If the auditors take care of the finances, the current employees can have better contact with the local branches, says Pele Blytmann.

From VHF radio communication to emails

The new chairman of KNAPK was heavily criticized by the former chairman after two months in office. Henrik Sandgreen believed that Pele Blytmann and the board had too little experience and could not handle the task. But Blytmann is convinced that dialogue is the way forward.

– We take note of the criticism, and I will not react negatively. On the contrary, I am in dialogue with him, he says.

After several trials as newly elected chairman, if he wants to achieve his goals, he must give up the VHF-based communication he is used to from his fishing colleagues, and instead intensify daily email communication with departments and other authorities.

Pele has tried working on land several times, but it is never long before he returns to the freelance profession at sea. That is why he is left with the last question:

Can you really last four years in your position?

– I have committed myself. No one else has decided. I'm here to stay, and I can handle it, Pele Blytmann concludes decisively.