Greenlandic coastal fishery for cod
Fishing for cod in Greenland is carried out the way it has been done for decades, but new methods are on the drawing board, which could lead to better economy for the Greenlandic cod fishermen.
Today, the Greenlandic inshore fishery for cod is a relatively small fishery of around 10.500 tons yearly – in comparison, more than double the amount was caught in the years of the 60s and 80s. After these years, the cod almost disappeared from Greenland. Biologists still do not agree on the reason for this, but the prevalent explanation is that it is a combination of intensive fishery for a number of years and falling sea temperatures, which meant that the stocks moved towards warmer waters in the South. Now, the sea around Greenland is once again becoming warmer and thus the cod returns and moves northwards up along the coast of West Greenland, perhaps following its favourite prey; cold water prawns and capelin.
Unique fishing method
The Greenlandic inshore cod fishery mainly (90%) takes place from May to September using traps. The remaining 10% is line catch, jigging and set nets. The trap fishery was commenced in the 1950s and quickly became popular, as the method is quick, selective and can be set up without any large investments. This meant that the trap fishery for cod contributed significantly to the job creation, both fishing and land based production, on the coast and following the Greenlandic economy. Today, the Greenlandic trap fishery for cod is the only one known of its kind working on a commercial basis.
In short, a cod trap consists of a net enclosure anchored to the seabed or ashore in a relatively shallow fiord. The fish can enter the net enclosure but not escape. The trap is typically left over night and in the morning the fisherman and a few helpers draws part of the net in using small cutters or dinghies, making the net enclosure smaller. This enables them to scoop the fish on board using a handheld net. On board, the live fish are sorted, undersized fish and non-target species are released and the cod large enough are immediately exsanguinated and cleansed, before they are iced and placed in the cargo hold. Subsequently, the cod is delivered directly to one of Royal Greenland's facilities where it is either processed onsite or shipped to other locations.
Environmentally friendly and selective fishery
The trap fishery delivers cod of high quality, while at the same time being both selective and fuel efficient. However, it is also quite labour intensive, physically hard for the fishermen. Each fisherman can only attend 1-2 traps and needs help to empty them. This means that the fishery today around Greenland's largest city Nuuk consists of around 70 small dinghies and around 25 smaller cutters (25-64 feet).
Future perspectives for Greenlandic cod
It is expected that the fishery will be consolidated in the future, in some areas possibly by utilizing a pump/suction system for emptying the traps, which is less physically strenuous and can be operated by fewer people. This means that each fisherman will be able to have more traps and catch more cod per person, and thus making a better living for themselves than they are able to today. The Greenlandic inshore cod quota has developed slowly from a trial based quota of 9,000 tons in 2009 to 15,000 tons in 2013 and is expected to be at the same level in 2014. The fishery is closely surveyed by biologists from The Greenlandic Institute of Natural Resources.
