Paulatuk (Oct 20/03) - Paulatuk hunters went beluga whale hunting for the first time in three years this season.

By the first week of July the sea ice surrounding the small hamlet broke up and drifted out allowing for the hunters to join the dozens of other Mackenzie Delta families in the annual hunt.

"It was a really good hunt this year," said Hank Wolki, hamlet whale monitor.

Ten hunters and their families spent two weeks hunting around Cape Perry -- about 130 kilometres miles north of Paulatuk. They took home 20 whales. Buckets of whale blubber was distributed throughout the community.

Wolki said the hunt was good but the whales were hard to get. "It wasn't really easy because of the deep water," he said, adding there were a lot of whales to chose from.

"The harvest has gone up considerably over this year compared to the past several years," said Kevin Bill, resource biologist with the Inuvialuit Fisheries Joint Management Committee based out of Inuvik.

A total of 114 beluga whales were harvested by hunters in Paulatuk, Aklavik, Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik this season. Last year 85 were harvested and 86 in 2001.

There are no quotas for Inuit hunters. Bill said a good harvest can indicate a healthy population.

"The stock appears stable and is one of the largest in the world, so the quota isn't necessary," he said.

The management committees and community monitors in the Beluga Whale Monitoring Program collect data on the whale populations.

Whales are measured, jaw bones are taken and tissue samples removed to determine age and health of the Beaufort Sea population.

Different monitors also remove the reproductive organs from some harvested whales, as well as liver and other tissues.

Department of Fisheries and Oceans scientists use these samples to determine reproductive health, contaminant levels and to detect diseases. The average age of beluga whales in the Delta is between 20 and 25, and most of the whales harvested are males, said Bill.

Wolki said Paulatuk's next hunt all depends on where the ice flows.