New course in hunting and fishing both popular and a necessity
A new two-year course in hunting and fishing starting this September is essential to ensure the future of hunting and to ensure the industry can diversify into tourism for a stable economic future(Mariia Simonsen/Sermitsiaq, News from Greenland, 18 May 2009) -- The majority of the 30 young students who have applied to begin a new two-year course in hunting and fishing are from small towns and settlements such as Nanortalik, Tasiilaq, Illoqqortoormiut and Qaanaaq.
The two-year course will be a combination of classroom based learning and practical workplace based learning with specially selected hunters and fishermen.
Those already working and earning a livelihood form these industries can also take advantage of the courses based in the town of Uummannaq in northwestern Greenland. They will be offered an extension course of up to a year in length in the area of hunting and nature leadership, biological assistant work and tourism.
Over and above the necessary practical elements of the course, it will also offer the young students an essential insight and understanding of law, economy and development relevant to hunting and fishing. There will also be teaching in nature, biology and marine studies as well as the use and maintenance of industry tools.
Rasmus Ole Rasmussen, the researcher behind a 2005 study into the hunting trade, welcomed the establishment of the new course, claiming it was essential for the establishment of sustainable trade for the future.
Commenting on the fact that the course also offers the ability to combine skills essential to both the hunting and tourism trade, Rasmussen said that it would provide necessary education skills where they are most needed by those actively working in the trades concerned in small towns and settlements.
It has come as no surprise to Rasmussen that the majority of applicants to the course come from southern and eastern Greenland, as his research has shown that young people from these regions typically help in family activities centring around hunting and fishing. They are also the areas, according to Rasmussen, where there are the fewest alternatives to the hunting and fishing trades.
'It is precisely this lack of alternatives that make it both attractive and interesting for young people from these areas to gain qualifications that can open doors beyond traditional hunting and fishing, and I am sure that many of the younger applicants see the course in this light,' said Rasmussen.
However, the risk remains that course participants will move to other areas upon completion of their education, which is a problem Rasmussen believes needs to be addressed.
'It is important to follow up this course with support to obtain necessary equipment and to ensure that there is a sustainable future for hunters.'
email to: agra...@yukoncollege.yk.ca
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