Regulations for gillnet fishing place restrictions on fishing

According to the bylaws for net fishing in Avannaata Municipality, halibut can be fished with nets in the Upernavik management area in January, March, April, May, November and December.

Climate change means that the sea ice in North Greenland is setting in later than before. This allows vessels to fish for a longer period during the winter. Therefore, the Upernavik Fishermen's Association, UAPAP, proposes that the management area closes for net fishing for halibut in May and only reopens for fishing in February.

The matter was discussed in the municipal council of Avannaata Municipality in mid-February, where the fishermen's request was supported. However, because applications for opening outside the permitted net months must be processed by the Department of Fisheries, Hunting, Agriculture and Self-Sustainability, the change has not yet entered into force.

Both the municipal council and UAPAP believe that the current rules for net fishing restrict fishing and should therefore be adapted to the actual conditions.

The case is to be heard

According to the statutes for commercial net fishing in the Upernavik administrative area in Avannaata Municipality, the municipality can – after consulting the users – close fishing with nets if it is not possible to avoid the loss of nets due to icebergs.

However, if the rules are to be changed, the Department of Fisheries, Hunting, Agriculture and Self-Sustainability cannot avoid conducting a hearing among the users, says Nikolaj Jensen, acting director of the Department of Fisheries and Hunting in Avannaata Municipality.

The case is ongoing

A member of the municipal council in Avannaata Kommunia, Arnaq N. Eskildsen (Naleraq), has raised an issue in the municipal council based on a request from the fishermen's association in Upernavik, UAPAP, to open net fishing for halibut in February instead of May.

However, she pointed out that the process of changing the rules was already initiated last year.

– The municipal council's fisheries and hunting committee was in Upernavik and the settlements last year to hear the fishermen's wishes for changes to the rules for net fishing for halibut.

– The fishermen want changes to the limits for net fishing and the permitted fishing months.

– There is a need to update the current rules, and work to implement this is now underway, she says.

Avannaata Municipality expects more tax revenue if the net fishing for halibut during the winter months at Upernavik can be carried out for a longer period.

Need to go to Ilulissat

Lauritz Immanuelsen Christiansen is a boatman and chairman of the fishermen's association in Upernavik, UAPAP.

He says that although it is possible to fish with nets during the winter months at Upernavik, net fishing is closed in February according to the rules. That is why he had to go to Ilulissat.

– Due to changed ice conditions, it is now possible to fish with nets in the Upernavik area throughout the winter. But because February is closed to net fishing according to the rules, fishing has to be stopped, he says.

Lauritz Immanuelsen Christiansen's boat, Olava, therefore had to sail to the area at Ilulissat with three men on board to fish.

– We have previously applied to have the statutes changed, but it has not yet happened. We have families in Upernavik, and that is why we want to fish up there.

– But we had to fish in Ilulissat, and that is of course a shame, he says.

Lauritz Immanuelsen Christiansen believes that a change in the rules for gillnet fishing will not only benefit the fishermen, but also the fish factories and their employees.