Southern Hudson Bay polar bear agreement under review again
“I expect to see a good agreement amongst all parties”
The southern Hudson Bay polar bear population co-management plan is up for review again this year, Johnny Mike told the legislature this week. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)
It took years to draft an agreement on the co-management of the southern Hudson Bay polar bear population, but Nunavut and neighbouring jurisdictions will be back at it again this year.
In November 2014, Nunavut, Quebec’s Inuit and Cree territories and Ontario settled on a co-management system that set an annual quota of 45 polar bears.
But with that plan set to expire in November 2016, those groups are starting to review the agreement once again.
Nunavut’s environment minister said the territorial government is working closely with other jurisdictions who together manage the southern Hudson Bay polar bear population.
“I’m very concerned about this issue, the new quota, and to make sure that the total allowable harvest is followed through because there’s international interest with polar bear management,” Johnny Mike told the legislative assembly March 7 during question period.
“I expect to see a good agreement amongst all parties, along with the federal minister of environment.”
The southern Hudson Bay’s polar bear subpopulation is among the most complex in Canada because it involves a territory, two provinces, two Inuit land claim areas, and Cree hunting rights under Treaty 9.
The last agreement settled on a smaller quota than what was previously in place, allotting 22 polar bears to Nunavik hunters, 20 for Sanikiluaq (Nunavut), three for Ontario and two for Quebec Cree.
The last of those 20 bears was caught in Sanikiluaq last week, Hudson Bay MLA Allan Rumbolt said in the legislature March 6.
The most recent estimates peg the southern Hudson Bay polar bear population at about 951 bears. Western science calls the population stable, while Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit suggests the population has increased.
As part of the Government of Nunavut’s new proposed polar bear management plan, the territory aims to give weight to both schools of thought.
Specific to the southern Hudson Bay population, the GN recommends increased cooperation among all jurisdictions along with a review of quotas once a new inventory is complete.
The proposed plan also lists a priority to “help Quebec to develop a management plan and system to ensure that the total allowable harvest is respected and followed and all harvesting is reported.”
That’s likely a reference to a period in early 2011 when hunters from Inukjuak harvested about 60 bears due to an increase in sightings along that stretch of Hudson Bay.
Nunavut’s proposed polar bear management plan is now the focus of a written public hearing, organized by the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board. You can see submissions here.
The plan was developed co-operatively in recent years with the input of community groups and hunters and trappers organizations, to replace a memorandum of understanding used to manage the territory’s polar bears up until this point.
One of the plan’s major priorities is to improve the collection and use of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit in polar bear management.
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