Pond Inlet hunters organization against Baffinland's proposed winter sealift

The Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, says it's against Baffinland Iron Mine's proposal to break ice in Eclipse Sound in March.

The mining company says it needs to sealift equipment next month to its Mary River mine by icebreaking cargo vessel to increase the production rate this summer. It has proposed monitoring the sealift's effect on seals, and installing an ice bridge system over broken ice as well as route markers and signage in English and Inuktitut to identify the path left by the vessel.

• Baffinland pitches winter sealift by icebreaking cargo ship

HTO vice-chair Eric Ootoovak says the ice is the only way for people to travel to go hunting.

"The land and the mountains are too steep to go out hunting," he said in Inuktitut. 

"If the ship breaks the ice, the ice will disappear faster and our seal will run away and make it hard to find. This isn't what we want and this will put Inuit in danger if the ice is not together."

Ootoovak says the group was always against the mining project near Pond Inlet. He says they've reached out to other regions including Nunavik and Nunatsiavut to oppose the plan.