Beluga hunters face cuts if quotas exceeded

For the first time ever, if Nunavik hunters hunt too many belugas and go over their quota, they will pay for it the following year with a quota cut.

The 2006 to 2008 Beluga Management Plan for Nunavik, released June 1 by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, is a straight-talking document with a stern tone.

The plan says a reduction of the total allowable catch for 2007 will be imposed in case of any over-harvesting.

As it stands now, for 2006, the global total allowable catch is 170 belugas: 135 from the Hudson Strait, 30 from James Bay and Long Island and five from the Ottawa Islands on an experimental basis.

Another 50 may be caught from around the Belcher Islands before July 1 or after October and the Western Hudson Bay, if there’s an agreement with Nunavut hunters.

The quota for the Hudson Strait must remain at or below 135 animals for recovery to begin in the Eastern Hudson Bay stock, says the plan.

That’s because biologists say one in five belugas killed in the Hudson Strait come from the Eastern Hudson Bay’s endangered population and, at the present level of hunting, it will take about 100 years for this population to recover.

This year, as last, no belugas at all are supposed to be taken from Eastern Hudson Bay or Ungava Bay. It says it is “absolutely forbidden to hunt” in the two bays.

But sticking to a regional quota of 135 and not hunting in the two closed regions may be a challenge for Nunavik hunters.

Last year, 149 belugas were hunted in the Hudson Strait, 14 more than the allowed number.

And at least another 21 belugas were hunted in areas lying outside the agreed areas in the 2005 Beluga Management Plan — five in Ungava Bay, closed to all hunting; one from the Eastern Hudson Bay, also closed to all hunting; three more than the quota for Long Island and James Bay, and 12 from the Belcher and King George Islands.

The 2006-2008 Beluga Management Plan comes from Lumaaq, a beluga co-management committee struck about three years ago.

Lumaaq’s meetings have included representatives from communities along Nunavik’s Eastern Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay as well from Makivik Corporation, Nunavik’s Anguvigaq Hunters and Trappers Association, Sanikiluaq, the Kivalliq Inuit Association, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, along with marine biologists and Department of Fisheries and Ocean observers.

Lumaaq is a forerunner of a more formal co-management group to be established when Nunavik’s offshore agreement is finally implemented.

This year’s beluga management plan says each hunter is responsible for respecting the rules and regulations and that the region will say how the quota will be divided among the communities. The DFO and the Kativik Regional Government will monitor the hunt.

The plan says in bold print that Actions to ensure compliance with the Management Plan and applicable Regulations will be taken as necessary.

The plan also contains a number of other measures with respect to the hunt, such as a call for no wastage, controlled netting, no hunting of young whales or females, and obligatory reporting of catches.

The plan notes that Hudson Strait communities are likely to catch whales from the Ungava Bay and the Eastern Hudson Bay summer beluga stocks during their spring and fall migrations, as shown by genetic analysis of samples.

To help prevent over-harvesting of these two stocks, the spring and fall catch in Hudson Strait must be controlled, says the plan. Samples for every beluga caught “must be provided” for stock identification, contaminant levels and population numbers.

The plan also says there is “little knowledge about beluga” in Ottawa Island, Long Island and James Bay and that sampling will add to this knowledge. It warns that if hunters don’t provide sampling of belugas from the Ottawa Islands, all future hunting will be stopped there.

The plan clamps down on the sale or even the trade of beluga. It says “the commercial use of whale parts is prohibited in Canada,” so it is forbidden “to sell, trade or barter” parts of belugas with non-beneficiaries or non-natives.

The plan says belugas should only be eaten for “food, social and ceremonial purposes” by communities that have traditionally eaten beluga whales.

And it says any exchange of muktuk between Nunavik communities must be counted. Any other selling, trading or bartering activity that would require a special allocation must be done with DFO approval.