Nunavut doubles caribou quota for Southampton Island

After recommending an increase to the Southampton Island caribou quota to the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board in October, the Government of Nunavut made that increase official on Dec. 15. (FILE PHOTO)

The total available harvest for the Southampton Island caribou population has been doubled from 800 to 1,600 caribou per year, according to a Government of Nunavut environment department news release Dec. 15.

The GN is reminding hunters not to harvest females with calves, as they are important for ensuring the herd grows and remain sustainable into the future.

The increase of the TAH, or quota, on Southampton Island follows a GN recommendation to the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board in late September.

In a recent survey, the Department of Environment concluded that by May of this year, caribou populations on the island had grown to 12,297 from 7,287.

It’s the first recorded increase of caribou on the island since populations started to decline decades ago.

In 1997 the caribou population on the island reportedly stood at 30,381.

Since then, the herd has struggled with brucellosis, a disease that affects their ability to reproduce.

And while scientists claim calf population on the island is trending upwards, the surge in Southampton caribou is more likely the result of an “emigration event” to the island, which was witnessed by hunters in the winter of 2014.

But by doubling the quota, the GN hopes the added tags will create more incentive for local hunters to go through their hunters and trappers organizations instead of reporting harvests on the honor system.

And there’s concern that demand from Baffin for caribou meat is causing over-hunting in the Kivalliq region.

As of October, less than a quarter of the caribou quota had been filled for Baffin Island.

“We have some information received from the HTOs in that region [Kivalliq], that identified very large numbers of caribou. In one community over 2,000 caribou is an estimate that had been sold and transported to Baffin in just a two-month period,” said the environment department’s director of wildlife Drikus Gissing to the NWMB board in September.

“Its legal, there’s nothing illegal about it, but we really need to get a handle on it.”

The Department of Environment is asking hunters to get a tag from the Coral Harbour hunters and trappers organization before setting off to harvest caribou on Southampton Island.