Casper Frank Moller: ‘You Can’t Talk About Greenland and Not Talk About Fishing’

Fishing is one of the oldest traditions in Greenland, going back centuries. Many Greenlanders still depend on fishing for their daily survival, and some hope to share this long-standing tradition with the rest of the world.

Casper Frank Moller is the CEO and co-founder of Raw Arctic, a Greenland-based fishing/tourism company based in Nuuk. The company offers a variety of experiences, such as fly fishing and deep sea fishing charters, as well as water, wildlife, and hiking tours. The company was founded by Moller and some of his friends, who wanted to combine their passion for the wildlife of Greenland with their jobs.

Moller describes the creation of his company by saying, “The idea behind Raw Arctic was basically just to merge our company and our profession with our hobby. And that’s exactly what we wanted to achieve. I’ve always been extremely passionate about fly fishing, deep sea fishing, but especially fly fishing, and Greenland is just a brilliant destination.”

The untouched beauty of Greenland is what makes fly fishing so appealing in one of the world’s least inhabited places, according to Moller. The square meters per person is one of the largest in the world, and thus a large portion of Greenland has gone untouched by humans for hundreds of years, some places never experiencing human contact. The rivers in many areas have large populations of fish due to the lack of human activity, which extends to much of the other local wildlife as well.

Moller describes the experience of fishing in these pristine rivers by saying,” So it’s just like going back 2,000 years in Europe somewhere and where there’s never been people before. When you fish and when you are in one of the last untouched ecosystems on Earth, it means that all of us are basically hunter-gatherers.”

Fishing Culture

Fishing is deeply ingrained in the Greenlandic culture, being a main source of food for many. His company also only hires native Greenlanders to give them an opportunity to share their knowledge of local fishing and hunting customs and support their families.

He further expands on this by saying, “I think it’s really important that you get the locals the possibility to show off their country because [they are] one of the very best at navigating these seas, navigating these shores, have the knowledge and the experience of this. Showing off your country with proudness, it’s just such a privilege.”

Some of the most popular fish to catch during the deep-sea tours are halibut, carp, and redfish. On land, Moller’s favorite fish to catch is the Arctic char; however, this is one species that has visible effected by climate change. Moller explains that the rising temperature has made the weather more unpredictable, which has led to changes in their breeding behaviors, making them harder to track.

Threats From Climate Change

Moller describes the potential impacts of climate change on the local fishing industry by saying, “we can’t guarantee that the fish are there when the clients arrive, though we might have an issue. We work in an environment we can’t do anything but obey [the weather]. The weather is in control and you just have to accept it and adapt and improve under those circumstances. And if you can’t and if it’s less predictable, yeah, it just gets more difficult to actually achieve what you want and do the different tours.”

Moller expands on the impacts of climate change by explaining the changing weather patterns. He states that seasons have gotten more transitional, without the harsh distinctions of years past, and that the weather has gotten less predictable because of these more transitional seasons. Warmer weather noticeably affecting the glaciers along the shoreline is also one of the observations that he makes. However, despite the challenges of climate change, Moller believes that fishing will always be a part of Greenland’s cultural identity.

“It’s just so embedded and integrated with our culture. It’s just part of who we are. And fishing is something that has made it possible for the Greenlanders to survive since we, since it all started. You can’t talk about Greenland and not talk about fishing. It’s just simply who we are,” he said.

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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.