A shot of the Great Slave Lake, which will soon see fishing boats return to its waters. (Photo by MyTrueNorthNow.com staff.)
Town of Hay River
1 min.read

Great Slave Lake Fishery re-opens

Bailey Moreton
By Bailey Moreton

For the first time in 15 years, the Great Slave Lake Fishery has opened.

The GNWT anticipates that seven commercial fishing businesses will do businesses in this year’s winter fishery, mostly in either Yellowknife or Hay River.

“In time, our plan is to see new and year-round jobs in processing, packaging, selling and transporting NWT fish to market,” Caroline Wawzonek, the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Investment, said in a statement. “As well as new products including more opportunities for NWT residents to access fresh, healthy, locally-produced food.”

The businesses will get support for startup costs through a pilot program introduced by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

The pilot program will run for up to eight weeks and assist fishers with accessing winter-specific gear and equipment.

Hay River’s packing facility is reopening, and will receive and grade fish from commercial fishers in Yellowknife and Hay River. Then they will ship them to the federal Fresh Water Fish Marketing Corporation (FFMC) in Winnipeg, where they will be marketed and sold.

The GNWT is also partnering with Indigenous governments to train residents in working at the winter fishery.

Cameron Beaverbones, President, Tu’Cho’ Fishers Co-operative said a partnership with the GNWT will hopefully lead to a “Revitalized fishing industry” in the Northwest Territories.

“One of the steps that we must take is to secure a year-round supply of fresh Great Slave Lake fish for market,” Beaverbones said in a statement. “This requires that we invest in the revitalization of our winter fishery.”

Bailey Moreton
Bailey Moreton
Bailey is new to the north, arriving from Ottawa where he studied journalism at Carleton University. He has worked for newspapers in Halifax, Windsor, and Ottawa. He came to the north hoping to see polar bears. He will settle for a bison. If you have a tip, send it to 905 252-9781, or [email protected].

Continue Reading

You may also like



cjcd Now playing play

- Advertisement -

Related Articles

- Advertisement -

Latest News

Hundreds of crew make progress on Decho fires relieved by rain

Fire
Hundreds of crew members co-ordinated aggressive responses to fires in the Dehcho region and along Hwy 1. On Wednesday cooler temperatures and rainfall reinforced long awaited progress by Wildland firefighters.

Shauit’s latest music project joins diverse richness of Indigenous north and south at FOTR

Folk On The Rocks
Shauit says his latest work blends Northern Indigenous and southern Indigenous Latin and African music. The artist is bringing ground-breaking fusions created in collaboration with musicians from Turtle Island’s North, Quebec, Mexico and France to Folk On The Rocks in Yellowknife. “To go to more places that Innu music didn't go before. To show my nation, to show young artists that they can do whatever they want,” explains the artist, who is originally from Maliotenam.

Hay River on roll to another ParticipACTION win

Northwest Territories
The town of Hay River has once again been named a finalist in the 2026 Community Challenge.Just last year, Hay River not only picked up the title of the most active community in N.W.T. but also nabbed $15,000 in prize funding support for local physical activity and sport initiatives. And in 2024, Hay River won the top prize in the national challenge, picking up $100,000 in prize funding.

Crews fighting fires in Dehcho amid extreme conditions and poor visibility

Fire
In the Dehcho region, Wildland crews reported that while some areas remain problematic, direct attack methods on FS016, south of Liidlii Kue and Fort Simpson were effective on Tuesday. In Wrigley, response efforts were overwhelmed by conditions and poor visibility.  In the South Slave region, a wildfire located about 20 km from Hay River has been 90 per cent contained following nearly two weeks of active response.

Intersections across city to see signal and hardware makeovers in next 3 weeks

City of Yellowknife
A series of traffic signal maintenance and hardware upgrades are set to begin Thursday at intersections throughout the city of Yellowknife. The work is scheduled to continue until July 31. City staff said during the three week period, temporary traffic signal interruptions can be anticipated.