Fishing in Quttinirpaaq National Park

All sport and recreational fishing in Quttinirpaaq National Park is currently prohibited.

A year-round closure, issued by Parks Canada pursuant to subsection 35(1) of the National Parks of Canada Fishing Regulations, applies to every water within the park's 37,775 square kilometres of high Arctic terrain — rivers, lakes, and all other waters without exception.

The closure is not a temporary measure tied to a season or a single species. It will remain in place until the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board determines whether the park's ecosystems can sustain sport fishing.

No timeline for that determination is published.

The waters in our database — Air Force River, Very River, Turnabout River, Ekblaw Lake, Cobb River, Lewis River, Snow Goose River, Kilbourne Lake, Turnabout Lake, Lewis Lake, and the rest — all fall within this closure.

The prohibition does not apply to Inuit exercising harvesting rights under the Nunavut Agreement. For everyone else, fishing here is not a matter of permits or seasons right now: it is not permitted at all.

Violations under the Canada National Parks Act carry a maximum fine of $100,000.

Anyone planning a trip to Quttinirpaaq should contact Parks Canada directly — the Resolute office can be reached at 1-867-252-3000 — to confirm whether the closure status has changed before departure.