Pangnirtung - ᐸᖕᓂᖅᑑᖅ

Pangnirtung is situated 50km from the Arctic Circle below the mountains of the Pangnirtung fiord, and on the northern side of Cumberland Sound. The economy comprises of traditional subsistence harvesting and hunting, and wage-based activities. The community’s hunting and fishing area ranges 150 km from Pangnirtung in all directions, including the Cumberland Sound. Caribou, seals, and Arctic char are the most valued food sources for the community but other seasonal resources, such as turbot, ptarmigan, eiders, polar bear, kelp, arctic hare, clams, and beluga are also important.

The CRN research team visited the community in March 2018. Team members held participatory mapping workshops with the Hunters and Trappers Association, Hamlet staff, Elders, and other resource users, collecting observations on coastal health and changing coastal conditions. Participants provided all data illustrated on this map.

Coastal issues included: the need to identify the main rivers used to access spawning grounds, char quota for the 10 lakes, the protection and strengthening of key habitats for commercial char and inshore turbot fisheries. Community members also raised questions about the change in color and taste of char, thought to be from the increase of capelin in this species diet, and the impact of stream restoration on other species.

Community coastal restoration priorities included: improving access road to winter turbot fishery; extending the access road along the shoreline to key fishing sites; and testing the toxic load of shellfish in the bay.

To learn more about Pangnirtung (English version), please download our research profile here. If you would like to view the Inuktitut version of our research profile, please download here.

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