Inuit hunters frustrated in quest for best bullets
“It’s more difficult for hunters anywhere in Nunavut to get ammunition than rifles”
GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS
The best bullet for killing whales lies far from most Inuit hands.
In efforts to fend off hunting critics, Nunavut’s land claim organization has searched out the most effective ammunition to harvest narwhal, beluga, and other marine mammals.
In theory, the chosen bullets should reduce the number of struck and lost whales, which is a frustration to hunters, and an explosive issue with conservation groups that are trying to stop the whale hunt.
But bullets declared to be the best are scarce in Nunavut.
Glenn Williams, a wildlife advisor for Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., went to the Faroe Islands in his quest to find the best possible way to kill marine mammals, and reduce the number that get away. In September, he joined members of the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission to test bullets on the freshly harvested heads of long-finned pilot whales.
Before Williams left, NTI hired six hunters from around the territory to test several gauges of ammunition on whale, and later compared their findings with research he did in the Faroe Islands.
The results showed that round-nosed bullets that are solid or have a full-metal jacket are the best, because they pierce the flesh and bone of the animal with little problem.
Despite the findings, current gun laws make it difficult for hunters outside of Iqaluit to access those bullets, according to the head researcher for the project.
“It’s more difficult for hunters anywhere in Nunavut to get ammunition than rifles,” Williams explained in a recent interview with Nunatsiaq News.
Most stores around the territory consider full metal jacket round nose bullets as specialty ammunition, and stock up on other types of bullets.
Meanwhile, licenced stores and hunters in Nunavut are restricted to ordering ammunition by sealift, although they can order new rifles by mail without limitations. Also, gun laws prohibit the sale of ammunition to anyone without a licence, although many Inuit don’t carry gun licences because they currently aren’t required to have them.
That means although NTI may have found what they consider a more compassionate and effective way to kill marine mammals, hunters will have a hard time accessing them.
Williams said some hunters know that these are the best bullets, and try to alter available ammunition to fit the round-nosed characteristics.
Williams warned that altering ammunition is dangerous, and could lead to rifles backfiring and injuries to hunters.
But Williams added another warning: hunters need this research to counteract criticism from animal rights groups, whose public campaigns contributed to the collapse of the sealing industry.
“We’re trying to be pro-active,” Williams said. “We learned this from the seal hunt. [The lobbying] was going on somewhere else, so people ignored it.
“But we were affected by that in the destruction of the seal market.”
According to Williams, the more recent ban on narwhal ivory in some countries comes from criticisms about the number of whales struck and lost. Williams hopes they will be able to fend off other bans, if better ammunition is available to Nunavut hunters.
However, a vocal opponent of whale hunting said she will continue pressing the federal government to join a moratorium on whale hunting, regardless of NTI’s research.
“Whaling will always be inhumane,” said Annelise Sorg, director of the Canadian Marine Environment Protection Society.
“If they’re doing this to appease groups like this one, then they’re wasting their time.”
NTI said they will continue research and discuss the test results with hunters and trappers organizations before deciding what their next step will be.
(0) Comments