Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak, july/august 2025

This summer, Anne Beemelmanns and Jean-Félix Chabot from Jean-Sébastien Moore’s laboratory at Université Laval, together with Emmelie Paquette from Stephan Schott’s group at Carleton University, visited Gjoa Haven (Uqsuqtuuq)and Taloyoak (Taluqruaq) in Nunavut to share research findings from the FISHES project (Fostering Indigenous Small-scale Fisheries for Health, Economy, and Food Security).
Community outreach events, organized together with local facilitators in each community, featured public talks, quizzes, and mapping games that made complex science playful and accessible. Elders, fishers, and children learned side by side. Hands-on activities, such as fish dissections with schoolchildren, sparked great interest. Teachers remarked that students stayed focused longer than they had ever seen during summer camp.

A 30-page community report was distributed, summarizing research results. Community members expressed excitement at learning how their Arctic Char DNA samples revealed relatedness, migration routes, and summer gathering places. There was a lot of interest in how the new genomic tool can be applied to fisheries management and support new commercial fishery development. Many also appreciated receiving results, noting that in the past researchers often did not return to share findings.

Verification interviews with Elders and fishers enriched the discussions, combining genetic findings with Inuit Knowledge. Some Elders and fishers confirmed research results through long-held observations, such as recognizing fish from different rivers by their appearance or taste. Some also expressed surprise at new insights into relatedness and movement revealed by genetics. A rewarding moment was hearing Elders confirm their observations with the genetic results, while also offering new perspectives. Our dialogues with local community members of different age classes fostered intergenerational learning and showed how science and Inuit Knowledge can complement one another.
Through these activities, the FISHES project strengthened dialogue, knowledge sharing, and community capacity, ensuring that research is meaningful, accessible, and collaborative.