N.W.T. fishermen set to take larger role in marketing, production

​Fishers on Great Slave Lake are about to get more control over the price of their catches, by taking over operation of a fish plant in Hay River and handling their own marketing.

The fishers have been working on a strategy and business plan for the lake's commercial fishery, which is located in Hay River. Under the new strategy, fishers will continue to sell their catch to the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation (FFMC). Currently, the FFMC buys, processes and markets all freshwater fish caught in the Northwest Territories, as well as Manitoba and Alberta.

However, under the new plan, N.W.T. fishers will assume responsibility of the plant and operations in Hay River, as well as marketing their product. Fishers will market their product directly to Northern markets, and will market to the south under a contractual agreement with FFMC, which is currently being negotiated.

"What they're doing is taking a very dramatic step," says John Colford, who is with the territory' department of Industry, Tourism, and Investment. "They're going from being just a basic supplier of material to being a refiner of that material into refined products into the marketplace, as opposed to saying: 'my destiny rests entirely with FFMC.'"

Implementing the fishers' plan will cost roughly $5 million, according to minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment David Ramsay.  The territorial government will contribute $1.5 million.

According to a speech made by Ramsay announcing the plan, the territory also stands "ready to work with our industry to leverage the federal government for a significant portion of this investment, and to share in the cost."

"This is a new and exciting direction for the fishery," said Ramsay.

"One that will stimulate a new era of self-sufficiency for our fishery, and return it to the leading economic contributor it once was."