Nunavik delegation wins support after presentation in Ottawa

The federal justice department should cover legal expenses for Nunavik beluga hunters charged with over-hunting, say members of the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.

The committee, which includes Inuit senators Charlie Watt and Willie Adams, met two weeks ago in Ottawa with Paulusi Novalinga, president of Nunavik's Anguvigaq Hunters and Trappers Association, and Nunavik mayors Adamie Kalingo of Ivujivik, Eli Aullaluk of Akulivik and Johnny Oovaut of Quaqtaq.

At the hearing, Aullaluk recounted his unsuccessful attempt last October to hunt beluga in unfamiliar waters.

Aullaluk said he finally urged Akulivik hunters to hunt belugas near the community when he came back home empty-handed. As a result, these hunters may be charged under the federal Fisheries Act for hunting beluga after the closure of the season.

"It hurts us. I hope those charges will be dropped, as it is our tradition and livelihood. We need it to survive," Aullaluk said.

Oovaut told the committee a story about how he had shot his first whale when he was 12 years old, with his father's gun.

"It took quite a few shots, but I finally got one. That is how long I have been hunting whales," he said. "I live about 500 feet from the sea. In the fall, in October and November, they usually come at about 12:30, at lunchtime. I know because I often see whales when I am having lunch. Then, I cut my lunch short to go and hunt them."

Oovaut said the current beluga management plan wasn't approved properly or with a full understanding of its intent.

"This year's quota has been reduced because they said that was in the agreement that if you over-harvest, we reduce next year's quota. This is something I do not understand because we never signed the management plan. They decided unilaterally to do that."

And Oovaut said the DFO needs more appreciation of traditional Inuit knowledge, which says belugas off Nunavik coasts are thriving, not endangered.

"We are not recognized as scientists. Because we do not have the diplomas or the university degree, our opinions do not count, even though what we do is quite scientific, such as the science of building an igloo," Oovaut said.

Kalingo said he's determined to keep beluga hunting alive in Ivujivik. He said his community, whose ancestors hunted beluga for millennia, could accept a quota of 20 to 30 belugas. He said the present quota is too low to maintain their beluga-hunting culture.

"I do not know how we will unite, but I speak for my people when I say we do not want this hunting to die."

Belugas are an important food source and were, in the past, used for leather, clothing and even medicine, Novalinga said.

"It has been known to be good for our health, containing fatty acids like omega-3, which good for the blood system and heart," said Novalinga, whose wife is a nurse in Puvirnituq.

"In health records from 20 years ago, there were no cases of diabetes on our coast. Then quotas were imposed on the beluga whale. Today, there are 40 cases on our coast. It is caused by having not enough traditional food. This is known."