Narwhal hunts: subsistence, not commerce

Narwhal isn’t supposed to be a cash crop for communities, but in reality they’re a valuable commercial sideline for hunters.

Mattak not consumed by a community may be sent for sale to country foods outlets, while the tusks are worth big bucks to collectors and carvers.

A seven- or eight-foot narwhal tusk can fetch at least $100 a foot, while a nine-foot tusk may be worth up to $250 a foot. A rare double narwhal tusk reportedly sold for $64,000.

This money may buy gas or other costly supplies that hunters need, and while it may seem to make good economic sense to hunt narwhal, there could be trouble ahead.

CITES, or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international watchdog group that sets controls on the cross-border sale of threatened species, has been looking into a total import-export ban on narwhal products.

CITES says the hunting of narwhals in Canada and Greenland has “increased since 1995 to unsustainable levels.”

According to the NWMB, communities that hunt narwhal must have a recording system for all narwhal struck, landed and lost.

Every hunter who kills a narwhal must obtain and complete a narwhal tag, and hunters and trappers organizations must create regulations to conserve stocks and minimize wastage – “with no overharvesting.”