A Half Century in the Making: Governing Commercial Fisheries Through Indigenous Marine Co-management and the Torngat Joint Fisheries Board

Abstract

A network of Indigenous co-management organizations is alive and robust within the management of fisheries in Canada and, subsequently, forms an important part of Arctic marine governance. This chapter examines Indigenous co-management in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Region of Nunatsiavut, Labrador through a case study of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement and the Torngat Joint Fisheries Board (TJFB). Through an analysis of the continuum of control of fish management policies in Nunatsiavut, and the resulting social, ecological, and economic outcomes, of Northern Shrimp, Snow Crab, and Arctic Char case studies, this chapter will illustrate the opportunity to engage the co-management organizations and processes to create more value for Inuit communities, and opportunities to facilitate further Indigenous participation in fisheries – engagement which ultimately will create healthier communities and ecosystems. In so doing, this chapter argues for a shift away from legal interpretation of the land claims documents, and calls for more emphasis to be placed on the spirit and intent of these documents in order to encourage and initiate dialogues and actions that are intended to meet and exceed the objectives of the land claims themselves.