Nunavut’s new narwhal management plan now in effect

This map shows the six “management units” for narwhal in Nunavut waters. (FILE IMAGE)

The new management plan for narwhal in Nunavut, with narwhal quotas for six management units in Nunavut, has been approved.

“Our government is pleased to announce today the finalization of an Integrated Fisheries Management Plan for Narwhal,” said a joint statement issued May 13 from Keith Ashfield, federal minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq.

“The plan will promote the sustainable harvest and trade of narwhal while ensuring the rights of Inuit are protected.”

The plan had aimed for an April 1 launch.

The plan, which gives Nunavut hunters a total allowable narwhal catch of more than 1,200 narwhals, was developed between the DFO, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and Nunavummiut.

The final decision of this plan established an overall harvest limit for Northern Hudson Bay narwhal, split between Nunavut, which will have a quota of 147, and Nunavik.

A narwhal harvest plan with Nunavik co-management partners is also in the works, the federal statement said.

Under the new plan for Nunavut, there’s a big increase in the quota for narwhals in the Baffin Bay region, which includes Somerset Island, Admiralty Inlet, Eclipse Sound and East Baffin Island, from 592 to 1,123.

For Jones Sound, the narwhal management unit, that includes Grise Fiord, the quota will increase from 20 to 50 narwhals.