Royal Visit to the Fishermen in Attu

King Frederik visited fishermen and hunters in Attu village in West Greenland on 2 July, 2024. In advance, the fishermen and hunters were informed that the king would like to hear about their experiences with community-based environmental monitoring.  Since 2014, the fishermen and hunters in Attu have followed what happens to the living resources and nature in their area as part of Greenland Government’s community-based monitoring programme PISUNA (Piniakkanik Sumiiffinni Nalunaarsuineq).

Photo: Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix.

Per Ole ‘Nuunoq’ Frederiksen (in white anorak) coordinated the PISUNA programme in Attu from 2014 to 2023.

The fishermen and hunters make observations while they are fishing and hunting. They regularly discuss their observations and knowledge. They discuss whether there have been changes in nature, why the changes are taking place and what should be done. The fishermen and hunters have found out a lot of interesting things. Throughout the years they have tried to get their knowledge used by the authorities in connection with the management of living resources. They think that some of their knowledge has been used sometimes, but many other times their knowledge has not been used.
In 2018, the fishermen and hunters received the Nordic Council Environment Prize for their efforts to document the environmental changes in their area and to recommend management measures that should be taken.
More information 
  1. Description of the PISUNA community-based environmental monitoring programme: https://pisuna.org/uk_index.html

  2. Searchable database with the fishermen and hunters’ observations and management proposals: https://eloka-arctic.org/pisuna-net/en