Nunavik’s Hudson Strait reopens to beluga hunters: DFO

Nunavik’s Hudson Strait opens to beluga hunters again on Sept.1.

An Aug. 30 notice to hunters from the federal department of Fisheries and Oceans says Nunavik hunters may catch up to 56 belugas in the Hudson Strait from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30.

Of this quota, 18 belugas will go to hunters in Ungava Bay communities, 10 to hunters in Hudson Strait communities and 28 to hunters in communities along Hudson Bay.

But hunters in the Hudson Strait communities of Quaqtaq and Salluit — where many belugas stream by in the autumn — are supposed to refrain from hunting any belugas.

That’s because in Salluit, hunters landed 52 belugas this spring and summer — 22 more belugas than their annual community quota allowed for, while in Quaqtaq, hunters took 30 beluga — five more belugas than the annual community quota.

Hunters from Umiujaq and Kuujjuaraapik can also go to Long Island and James Bay where a quota of 31 belugas remains.

Ungava Bay, eastern Hudson Bay, Nottingham Island and Salisbury Island and the Ottawa Islands along with the Mucalic, Nastapoka and Little Whale estuaries remain closed to beluga hunting.