Inuit org supports GN’s interim ban on Baffin caribou hunt

A caribou harvested near Tarr Inlet, about 10 years ago, when the species thrived on Baffin Island. (FILE PHOTO)

Nunavut’s Inuit land claims organization has put its full support behind the Nunavut government’s interim moratorium on hunting caribou on and around Baffin Island.

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. vice president James Eetoolook said the organization stands behind the Government of Nunavut’s interim moratorium, which took effect Jan. 1.

The ban covers all of Baffin Island, and includes islands in Foxe Basin, Bylot Island, and various islands close to the Baffin Island coast. Melville Peninsula is excluded from the ban.

“This was not an easy decision to make, but it is the decision that is needed in order to give the Baffin Island caribou population time to recover,” Eetoolook said in a Jan. 5 release. “Unless drastic steps are taken immediately, the recovery of this caribou population will take several decades more to recover.”

GN aerial surveys have revealed Baffin’s caribou population now stands between 3,462 and 6,250 animals, with a best guess of 4,652, a 95 per cent reduction from a population of about 150,000 animals estimated during the 1980s, when caribou thrived on the island.

The government’s interim hunting ban will give wildlife management partners time to create a management plan, NTI said, one that should be guided by principles of conservation to help revitalize the depleted population.

Next, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board will conduct a public hearing on the future of the harvest, a process that could take up to 10 months.

“This decision is in accordance with Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Article 5.3.24, which allows the environment minister to make an interim decision in the event of urgent and unusual circumstances that require immediate modifications to harvesting activities,” Eetoolook said.

As of Jan. 1, hunting caribou on Baffin Island could result in fines and charges for illegal hunting, the GN said in a December news release.

“If we do not stop hunting now, the effects will be permanent,” the GN said last month as it announced the decision. “There will be no more caribou on Baffin Island, and Inuit culture will be even more impacted.”

The GN has said that the caribou’s decline is part of a natural population cycle, although it is believed that human activities can play a role.

The interim hunting ban will remain indefinitely, pending the NWMB’s new caribou management plan