Survey shows ‘positive signs’ for South Baffin caribou herd: minister

There will be an increase in allowable tags for this year’s South Baffin caribou harvest after an aerial survey showed “positive signs for the herd,” Environment Minister Daniel Qavvik said this week.

Speaking in the legislative assembly on Monday, Qavvik said hunters will be allowed to harvest up to 90 females from the total allowable harvest of 450 for the 2024-25 season.

This is an increase over last year’s limit of 80 females from a total harvest of 400 caribou.

“We flew over 230 hours using helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft and included observers chosen by hunters and trappers organizations in Iqaluit, Pangnirtung, Qikiqtarjuaq, Kimmirut and Kinngait,” Qavvik said of the survey conducted in March.

He thanked the groups for their work on the aerial survey.

This comprehensive study is the first to take place in a decade.

The last count of caribou, carried out in 2014, estimated the population to be approximately 4,600 — a sharp drop from an estimated 150,000 caribou in the 1980s.

That led the Government of Nunavut to introduce a temporary moratorium on the caribou hunt in January 2015.

Later that year, a total allowable harvest of 250 male-only tags was put in place.

“It is through our commitment to the guiding principle of Avatittinnik Kamatsiarniq — respecting and caring for the land, animals, and our environment — and with the support of our harvesters and co-management partners that Baffin Island caribou have the best chance at recovery,” Qavvik said.

He said the Environment Department is analyzing data from the survey and will share the results when they are ready.

A survey of the central and north Baffin Island caribou populations is expected to occur in the next few years.

The caribou harvest season opens July 1, according Nunavut’s hunting regulations.