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Bent
PETERSEN - Fishing hunter
Appilattoq
- Latitude 72 52 NR - 055 35 W
200
inhabitants
Interviewed in June 2009
Twenty years ago, at the same period i.e.
beginning June, it was possible to get from Upernavik to
Appilattoq by dog sled, on ice which was 30 centimetres
thick. Today, as you can see, everything is completely open,
and the area is only accessible by boat. Our closest glacier
has retreated 25 kilometres in ten years. We have a similar
situation at l’Isfjord d’Ilulissat.
Fishing is not a problem, there are
plenty of fish. With my little boat, I have on occasion
managed to catch one and a half tons of halibut in a day.
Hunting is more of a problem. Hunting bears is now
controlled, and we are not allowed to kill more than the
quota of twenty bears for all the villages from Ilulissat
until Thulé. The bears are therefore more numerous in the
area. As you are going to be sailing around here, pay
attention and be very vigilant.
From a political point of view, things are going a bit too
fast for my liking. The government will be tempted by the
development of petroleum and mineral resources. I would
prefer investments in renewable energy. The damage caused by
these proposed developments could cause a lot of harm to our
country, which is already seriously affected by climatic
changes. |
