Daniel T'seleie
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 20/05) - A U.S. request regarding polar bear quota information could have a negative impact on Nunavut's economy.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wrote to the Canadian Wildlife Service for information on what is going on with the quotas, which were raised in January but then questioned earlier this month.

The U.S. has asked Canada for information on polar bear quotas. American hunters spend about $20,000 each in Nunavut hoping to bag a polar bear and bring home the hide.

Information presented by the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and taken from Greenland harvest reports, both in February, suggest polar bear populations in the Western Hudson Bay region, Davis Strait and Baffin Bay region may be threatened.

The CWS decides whether hunters from the Unites States can return with hides and other trophies from polar bear hunts in Nunavut.

Under their Marine Mammal Protection Act, the United States is required to ensure polar bear hunts are, "based on scientifically sound quotas," said Peter Thomas, chief of division of management authority for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

It is too early to say whether U.S. hunters will be kept from bringing bear trophies back from Nunavut, said Thomas.

Each hunter from the U.S. contributes around $20,000 to the Nunavut economy, said Department of Environment assistant deputy minister Jane Cooper.

The department emphasizes consultation with communities is integral to setting the quota levels, an issue raised at a recent NWMB meeting,

"It's not just the government's decision," said Environment Minister Olayuk Akesuk. "It's really up to the communities and the research data."

Copper expects consultations with communities will begin this fall.

Population data

There have been lots of studies of the separate Nunavut bear populations in the past, Cooper said, but, "how old it is or how dated is another matter."

Population surveys have to be done over a number of years, and are expensive to complete, she said.

The GN is starting a study this year of the Davis Strait population which should be completed in three years.

A CWS study of the Western Hudson Bay population is not yet completed, Cooper said.

Jim Noble, chief operating officer for the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board (NWMB), could not recall when the last study of the Baffin Bay population was completed.

The government will not begin any new studies until they are finished looking at Davis Strait, Cooper said.

No recommendations

Government biologists at a recent NWMB meeting were calling on the GN to verify whether bear harvesting in several Nunavut areas is sustainable.

A quota decrease in the Western Hudson Bay region was suggested by CWS research scientist Ian Stirling.

The number of bears in the region has decreased from 1,200 to 1,000 in the last decade, according to Stirling.

The government is going to "re-asses" information on the Western Hudson Bay population to identify differences between the scientific information and traditional knowledge, Cooper said.

No re-assessment of the Baffin Bay information will be made until after talks, beginning in August, with Greenland on polar bear management, Cooper said.

A request by Nunavut News/North to interview polar bear biologist and environment manager of research section, Mitch Taylor, was denied by the department.