Management Team
AFA’s management team is composed of key personnel who have extensive experience in the commercial fishery. Following the direction of AFA’s Board of Directors, the management team consistently works to ensure not only the success of AFA’s business, but that its mandate to provide the maximum benefits to its owners is achieved as well. With over a decade participating in Nunavut’s offshore fisheries, AFA’s Board of Directors and management team are confident AFA will continue to produce strong results and new opportunities for diversified growth in the future.
President and CEO:
Lootie Toomasie is AFA’s President and CEO, and he has held this position since AFA’s establishment in 2008. Prior to this Mr. Toomasie was chairman of the Nattivak HTA as well as mayor of the community of Qikiqtarjuaq. He has also held the position of Chair of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities. Mr. Toomasie has been a driving force in establishing AFA with the goal of ensuring the benefits of the commercial fishery are more widely distributed in Nunavut. Mr. Toomasie’s consistent presence at AFA’s helm has provided him with a unique blend of experience and knowledge of how the Nunavut turbot fishery is operated.
General Manager:
Harry Earle is AFA’s General Manager. He has extensive experience related to the fishery and business development. Mr. Earle holds a CPA designation and for eight years was Vice President Finance and Treasurer with Fishery Products Ltd. at a time when the company was one of the largest fishing companies in Atlantic Canada. Mr. Earle has also been employed as a tax specialist with a major CA firm. In recent years, he had acted as a business and fishery consultant to a number of clients.
For the past decade, Mr. Earle has been the General Manager of AFA. Over this time, with the support of the AFA Board of Directors, they have grown the fishing operation from a royalty-based fishery to one where multiple communities are able to maximize the financial and social returns of the resource.
Operations Manager:
Sunvar Mortensen was retained in 2016 as AFA’s Operations Manager. He has extensive experience related to the offshore fishery and business management. Mr. Mortensen has a Danish degree of Merkonom in Accounting, Taxation and Audit, and for 16 years he held senior management positions with the shrimp fishing company Farocan Incorporated and its subsidiaries, which harvested Nunavut quotas under royalty arrangements. In recent years Mr. Mortensen has been employed by Nasaijit Services Ltd., a Nunavut bookkeeping firm located in Iqaluit. From 2011 to 2016, Mr. Mortensen was the Finance Manager of Inuit Heritage Trust Incorporated (IHT), an organization established in the Nunavut Agreement and located in Iqaluit, NU.
Vessel Manager:
Brendan O’Dell was retained by AFA in 2011 to act as the Vessel Manager for the fleet. In addition, Mr. O’Dell also spends time on the Suvak mentoring and training Inuit harvesters. Brendan has been involved in fisheries for over 25 years, over 20 of which have been spent harvesting northern turbot. Parts of his duties in the past have included quality control as well as vessel management and operations.
Controller:
Paul Crummell was hired by AFA in 2014 to act as the Controller. Paul has extensive experience in the financial industry covering some 35 years. In the past he has worked for several accounting firms including AFA’s current financial advisors and auditors Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
Community Development Officer:
Mark Akeeagok joined AFA’s management team in 2015 in the role of Community Development Officer. As the former manager of Iviq Hunter and Trapper Association of Grise Fiord, Mark is well-versed in coordinating socio-economic development projects. He manages AFA’s community development projects in partnership with AFA’s owner HTAs and Trustees. In addition, he oversees AFA’s Community Liaison Officers to ensure the lines of communication between AFA’s owners and management are strong and continuously open.