Qaataaq - flash frozen

From the net of Tommy Nukapigak, Kuukpik River (Coleville), Nuiqsut.

Tommy catches Qaataq in the Kuukpik River

Tommy Nukapigaq found me today during the period of noon twilight and took me down to the river where he had set a net under the ice. He pulled out 97 Qaaqtaq, or Arctic Cisco. It has been a good season for Qaaqtaq, but a bad one for Aanaakliq, or whitefish, a very popular, fat and tasty Arctic fish Nuiqsut is famous for. The Aanaakliqs are here, but they are mysteriously blemished, perhaps with a fungus, from what I am told, and people are reluctant to catch and eat them. As for the Qaaqtaq harvest, Tommy is very pleased.