Hudson Strait beluga hunt closed

The beluga whale hunt in the Hudson Strait zone is closed as of Sept. 1, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced last week.

That means all communities from Ivujivik to Quaqtaq are not allowed to hunt the animal in their waters until Oct. 31.

The harvest remains open along Long Island and in James Bay, Northeastern Hudson Bay, Ottawa Islands and Ungava Bay.

The East Hudson Bay zone, Nastapoka Estuary, Little Whale River and Mucalic Estuary remain closed for beluga hunting at all times.

The annual Hudson Strait closure is part of the beluga management plan in the Nunavik Marine Region intended to ensure long-term sustainability of the East Hudson Bay beluga stock, said Robert Rombouts, communications adviser for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, in an email.

East Hudson Bay belugas are listed as threatened according to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.

Rombouts said Inuit knowledge holders have determined the Eastern Hudson Bay beluga whales are the first to migrate through the Hudson Strait every year, followed by the Western Hudson Bay belugas.

Enforcing a hiatus in the hunt between September and October “will reduce hunting pressure on the threatened Eastern Hudson Bay population,” he said.

The federal department, in collaboration with Makivvik, has been sampling and analyzing Nunavik belugas since the 1980s.

Rombouts said this has helped improve the understanding of beluga populations including their age, sex and reproduction rates, via genetic analyses.