{"id":409349,"date":"2026-01-14T20:13:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/409349\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T20:13:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:13:15","slug":"inuit-discuss-impacts-of-arctic-shipping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/409349\/","title":{"rendered":"Inuit discuss impacts of Arctic shipping"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Qikiqtani Inuit Association president Olayuk Akesuk says Inuit should play role in collecting data<\/p>\n<p>Some Inuit are calling for the collection of baseline data to get a better sense of how Arctic shipping affects marine mammals.<\/p>\n<p>The idea was raised by hunters Tuesday at the Ingiulik Nunavut Shipping Symposium in Iqaluit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all know all communities have been affected,\u201d said Olayuk Akesuk, president of Qikiqtani Inuit Association. \u201cWe know the ships are not going to stop. The Inuit organizations have to be involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Akesuk made the comments as he fielded questions from National Inuit Youth Council president Gwen Natsiq during an afternoon presentation titled Leaders in Conversation: Shipping Impacts and Regional Priorities.<\/p>\n<p>He said marine traffic, which includes industrial vessels to cruise ships and private yachts, is disrupting wildlife migration patterns and leaving pollution behind.<\/p>\n<p>He warned the future is \u201cnot pretty\u201d if Arctic shipping continues unabated.<\/p>\n<p>Akesuk said he wants to see monitoring of shipping routes before, during and after vessels pass through Arctic waters.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/nunatsiaq.com\/ads\/251219-nunavut-legal-aid\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"373\" height=\"331\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/251219.100.93.png\" class=\"no-lazy-load wp-post-image\" title=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A lack of baseline data is a problem, he said, adding the path to improvement should be propelled by Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, or Inuit traditional knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>Several audience members chimed in with comments from the floor.<\/p>\n<p>David Matoo, secretary treasurer of the Aiviit Hunters and Trappers Organization in Coral Harbour, raised a concern about decreased walrus numbers on Coats Island, about 140 kilometres south of the community.<\/p>\n<p>The island used to be teeming with walrus, he said, but in recent years it has been empty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the past two years we haven\u2019t seen any,\u201d Matoo said in Inuktitut, through a translator. \u201cWe\u2019ll see one or two, but the island used to be full of walrus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Matoo blames years of industrial shipping traffic for the change.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/nunatsiaq.com\/ads\/250404-gn-hiring\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"373\" height=\"331\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/250404.100.86.jpg\" class=\"no-lazy-load wp-post-image\" title=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have no data, but it\u2019s true,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Iviq Hunters and Trappers Association chair Jeffrey Qaunaq raised a concern about a shift in marine mammal populations he has observed while hunting in his region, which includes Grise Fiord.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am quite aware how mammals are affected,\u201d he said. \u201cThe whales in our waters are not the same. They\u2019re not from our area.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other delegates expressed concern about invasive species, including new insects and birds, appearing on the land and shore.<\/p>\n<p>The four-day conference is co-hosted by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the representative organization of Inuit across Inuit Nunangat, and the Canadian Coast Guard.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/nunatsiaq.com\/ads\/2025-gn-annual-ad\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"373\" height=\"331\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025_GN_annual_sidebar.png\" class=\"no-lazy-load wp-post-image\" title=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The conference continues Wednesday and Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Qikiqtani Inuit Association president Olayuk Akesuk says Inuit should play role in collecting data Some Inuit are calling&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-409349","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}