Qikiqtaaluk Fisheries Corp. is set to become the largest harvester of shrimp in Canada with the acquisition of a 71-metre fishing vessel from Nova Scotia, says corporation president Harry Flaherty.
“That opens doors to new customers and markets that simply weren’t accessible before,” Flaherty said in a LinkedIn post Sunday describing the purchase.
Qikiqtaaluk Fisheries Corp. is owned by Qikiqtaaluk Corp., the business arm of Qikiqtani Inuit Association which is responsible for promoting the rights of Qikiqtani Inuit.
The Mersey Phoenix is a factory freezer trawler that can catch, process and freeze fish while remaining at sea for weeks at a time.
It was built in 2002 by Norwegian company Umoe Sterkoder Norway. It has capacity for 30 crew members, who will join Qikiqtaaluk Fisheries Corp. as part of the transition from the vessel’s previous owner, Nova Scotia-based Mersey Seafoods.
The ship — 71 metres long and 15.9 metres wide — is “well-recognized in the industry for its performance and reliability,” said a news release issued Friday by Qikiqtaaluk Fisheries Corp.
With the ship, Qikiqtaaluk Fisheries also acquires Mersey’s Canadian northern shrimp licence, which expands the Inuit company’s shrimp harvesting quota. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans manages annual shrimp and turbot harvests by issuing these annual quotas.
The new licence makes Qikiqtaaluk Fisheries the largest quota holder of northern shrimp in Canada, said Flaherty in his post.
The ship is currently fishing for shrimp east of Newfoundland and may head to Iqaluit this fall, said corporation spokesperson Katie Choquette in an email Tuesday.
She estimated the acquisition of the Mersey Phoenix will increase the company’s annual shrimp harvest by 4,000 tonnes.
In 2024, with its only fishing vessel Saputi, Qikiqtaaluk Fisheries Corp. caught 7,504 tonnes of seafood — 4,616 tonnes of shrimp and 2,888 tonnes of turbot — according to Qikiqtaaluk Corp.’s annual report.
When asked, Choquette didn’t say how much it cost to purchase the Mersey Phoenix.
Last year, Qikiqtaaluk Fisheries Corp. also acquired a $100-million fishing vessel to replace the nearly 40-year-old Saputi.
Called Saputi II, the new ship is set to make its way to Nunavut in time for the 2026 season which runs roughly from July through September. It will be able to carry up to 1,100 tonnes of shrimp — twice as much as its namesake predecessor — or 750 tonnes of turbot.
Once the new ship is ready for use, the older Saputi will be listed for sale, Flaherty said in October.
By Arty Sarkisian, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Mar 25, 2026 at 06:41
Recent Comments