FORT SIMPSON (Apr 03/98) - Hunters, trappers and fishermen who take animals in the Sahtu are being asked to share their numbers with the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board for the next five years.

This spring, it will undertake a five-year study of fish and wildlife in the region as part of its land claim. Hunters and fishermen in each of the communities will be interviewed once a month by a representative of the board. The numbers will be used to preserve Dene and Metis harvesting traditions and to manage the natural resources of the area.

"The primary purpose is to protect the harvest rights and harvest traditions," said Winter Lennie, a spokesman for the board.

"The management component is the second purpose. If people are harvesting one particular species more than another and it's a species that not a lot of research has been done on, it may tell us that we need to take a look at it."

Canvassers will begin drawing up lists of community hunters and fishermen with a door-to-door campaign next month. The gathering of data will begin in May. The identities of those interviewed will be protected and prizes will be awarded each month to encourage participation.