Baffin caribou: Nunavut officials prefer continuation of hunting ban

A caribou harvested near Tarr Inlet, about 10 years ago, when the species still thrived on Baffin Island. Due to a natural population cycle, the population is now crashing. The Government of Nunavut imposed an interim ban on caribou hunting on Baffin, as of this past Jan. 1. (FILE PHOTO)

The Government of Nunavut’s preferred management plan for caribou on Baffin Island is a continuation of the interim hunting ban now in place, GN officials said March 11 in Iqaluit.

That’s according to Drikus Gissing, director of wildlife management for the territory’s environment department, who fielded questions on the first day of the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board’s three-day public hearing in Iqaluit.

The NWMB is holding the hearing from March 11 to 13 at the Anglican parish hall to decide on a management plan for Baffin’s dwindling caribou population.

“Our preferred option is a moratorium. That would ensure the quickest possible recovery of caribou,” Gissing said after Troy Pretzlaw, a Baffin-region biologist in his department, presented the GN’s recommendations to the NWMB board and two dozen other stakeholders.

In the GN’s presentation, Pretzlaw listed three options:

• A Baffin-wide moratorium until the caribou population recovers;

• a total allowable harvest of between one and three per cent of male caribou; and

• areas of restricted harvest to protect the core range of Baffin caribou from hunting.

“The [Department of Environment] believes the above noted options balance the best current available scientific information, Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and community input to ensure harvest does not cause a further decline,” the GN’s submission said.

Current caribou estimates on Baffin Island range from 3,400 to 6,200 — down from an estimated 100,000 in the 1980s.

Knowledge gathered from both IQ and scientists suggest that a dramatic boom-and-bust cycle is normal for caribou populations.

A number of other stakeholders, including the Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., support a modest harvest quota to replace the interim hunting ban.

But Gissing pointed out that any new restrictions on caribou harvesting will likely lead to some people breaking the new rules.

Steve Pinksen, assistant deputy minister for the GN’s environment department, told Nunatsiaq News March 11 that wildlife officials are currently investigating three possible caribou harvesting infractions. He did not disclose which communities are involved but said they are in north and south Baffin.

Since Jan. 1, 2015, it’s been illegal to hunt caribou on Baffin Island. That moratorium was put in place by the GN’s environment minister under emergency powers laid out in the Nunavut Land Claim Agreement.

Pinksen said those investigations are on-going and no charges have yet been laid.

Both Gissing and Pinksen said the investigations were sparked by concerns raised by local hunters and trappers organizations and members of the public and in one case, through information obtained on Facebook.

The repercussions for an individual found harvesting despite the moratorium could vary, Gissing said.

“Each incident will be based on the situation. It could be an elder that’s been out on the land, who’s hungry and didn’t have any food,” he explained.

That elder would not likely face any consequences, Gissing said, but others could face fines or wind up in court facing charges under Nunavut’s Wildlife Act.

Pinksen seemed a little less generous.

“This is a big step for the government to take. It’s certainly controversial but, it is now the law of the land,” Pinksen said in an interview.

“Our staff have an obligation to investigate any reports of breaking the law, hunting caribou on Baffin Island. We are aware of the sensitivity of the situation but that doesn’t change the fact that we’ve got a job to do here too.”

Even if the NWMB’s final recommendation is to set a total allowable harvest for the Baffin region, caribou harvested through illegal hunting will still have to be taken into account, said Gissing.

Setting quotas presents a challenge to the NWMB, a lawyer working for the board told the GN after its presentation.

That’s because the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement says a basic needs level for Inuit must be the first consideration in setting such a quota.

“The caribou population is so low,” Gissing said in response, “that if a total allowable harvest is established, I’d expect its full allocation to go to Inuit for basic needs for the foreseeable future.”

Setting a quota depends in part on knowing how many caribou have been harvested historically, Gissing said.

The GN does not have any accurate data on that, he added, and ironically, the best way to gather current harvesting rates is through a quota system where tags are awarded to individual hunters.

But the GN is taking other steps to gather that and other data, Gissing told Nunatsiaq News.

Starting March 16, representatives from the environment department and from NTI will travel to each Baffin community for consultations on a long-term management plan for Baffin caribou, Gissing said.

Gissing said he hopes to visit all communities by the end of March, and to submit a long-term management plan to the NWMB by the end of 2015.

Setting a sustainable long-term harvesting quota depends on knowing how many bulls, cows and calves make up the caribou herds on Baffin Island, Gissing said.

That will form an important part of regional biologist Pretzlaw’s work for the next three years.

The NWMB’s public hearing will continue until March 13 with submissions from many stakeholders still to come, including from Baffin-region HTOs, the Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board, and a joint submission from Environment Canada and Parks Canada.

The NWMB will then make a final recommendation to the territory’s environment minister who can accept, reject or make suggested changes to the recommendation.

With files from Lisa Gregoire