Thomas Sorbik: CEO of Getaway Fly Fishing

Thomas Sorbik is the CEO of Getaway Fly Fishing, a fly fishing charter company that offers fly fishing charters all across the world. Their business model, which they’ve used for over 20 years, focuses on providing immersive fishing experiences all over the world by collaborating with local partners.

Their experience in Greenland brings them to remote rivers to catch Arctic char, a river fish that is active in the summer. While the charters mainly focus on Arctic char, there are also deep-sea fishing charters that target fish such as cod, halibut, and wolffish.

Their website describes the experience they offer in Greenland as “taking you to some of the most special places you have ever experienced. Rivers far away from any civilization, rivers that will offer you a journey back in time.”

Despite Greenland’s relatively low tourism numbers, fishing and hunting charters are some of the biggest draws for tourists, although it does require special licensing. However, with the building of the new Nuuk International airport in 2024, there has been hope amongst some Greenlanders that international tourism will increase.

Emerging Sport Fishing Industry

Sorbik estimates that the number of people visiting Greenland for the fishing tourism industry is relatively small, saying, “through outfitters like us, less than 1000. The total capacity of the outfitters we know is around 500 during the short season, based on each guest staying for a week of fishing. There are surely way more fishing licenses sold, but many will be for the occasional fishing during a hiking trip, or similar.”

With the building of the international airport and plans for others in the coming years, there has been a new hope in expanding Greenland’s tourism industry. According to The Arctic Institute, an expanded tourism industry could also help propel Greenland towards greater economic independence.

“We also have a strategy of creating more income from tourism, and that has been developing very rapidly for the last three years. And we also expect that to be a major part of the future income and activity in Greenland,” said Jorgen Hammeken-Holm, Deputy Minister of Business, Mineral Resources, and Energy in Greenland.

Future of the Industry

There are some worries that climate change could affect the local fish populations and their behaviors, or move new fish into areas they were not previously native to.

Sorbik expands on this, saying, “Theoretically, other rivers might warm up enough that more Atlantic salmon could spawn in them as well, but it would probably take a stocking program to introduce them to these rivers, although there are no plans of doing so.”

While traditional hunting is deeply ingrained in the Greenlandic culture, sport fishing is a relatively new concept. However, with the potential increase in tourism, sport fishing could develop into a much larger industry, with the help of established countries.

“While traditional fishing and hunting for food have a very strong tradition in Greenland, sport fishing is not really a concept there. Which is why the fishing tourism has been developed in cooperation with partners like us,” said Sorbik.

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This story is part of a semester-long investigative reporting project into Greenland’s people, history, and culture. It was created by an advanced reporting class in the Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies program at UW-Milwaukee. Other stories from the project are available on Edge of the Arctic: Greenland, the Land of the People.

This work was made possible through the support of MPC Endowment Ltd., the philanthropic affiliate of the Milwaukee Press Club, and a private donor.