Nunavik’s beluga hunt opens May 3

Nunavik beluga hunters can take 315 belugas in 2012 — the same number as in 2011. (FILE IMAGE)

May 3 marks the start of the beluga hunt in Nunavik.

However, as was the case in 2011, most Nunavik beluga hunters will be obliged to travel to the Hudson Strait to hunt some of their community quota of whales.

The Hudson Strait’s spring and summer season lasts from May 3 to Aug. 31, or until hunters top the quota of 190 belugas. Communities in the Hudson Strait will be able to take 105 of that number.

From May 3 to Nov. 30, hunters in the eastern Hudson Bay can take nine belugas.

But hunters in Akulivik, Puvirnituq and Inukjuak will travel to the Hudson Strait for most of their catch, while those in Umiujaq and Kuujjuaraapik will be obliged to travel to the Long Island and James Bay for that area’s quota of 31 belugas.

In Ungava Bay, hunters can take 10 belugas from May 3 to Aug. 31 or until the quota is reached. They’ll be travelling to the Hudson Strait for balance of their community quotas.

The Nunavik Marine Region Wildlife Board established the total allowable take and allocation per community.

This will see the Ungava Bay communities sharing a total quota of 94 belugas, the Hudson Strait communities with a quota of 105 and the eastern Hudson Bay communities with a quota of 116.

The most populous communities in Nunavik, Kangiqsualujjuaq, Kuujjuaq, Salluit, Purvirnituq and Inukjuak have beluga quotas of 30 belugas each.

Hunters should “use every precaution when navigating through difficult weather conditions such as ice floes,” the Department of Fisheries and Oceans said in a May 1 notice on the opening of the hunt.

The following areas remain closed at all times:

• Nottingham Island and Salisbury Island;
• Ottawa Islands;
• Mucalic Estuary;
• Nastapoka Estuary; and,
• Little Whale River Estuary.