Jason Unrau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Oct 21/05) - Current caribou harvest practises are "unsustainable," says the regional manager for the department of natural resources.

Last week, the department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) released its caribou population counts for the three herds in the region - the Cape Bathurst, Bluenose West and Bluenose East - and revealed that their numbers have drastically declined.

"Based on figures we have and population sizes, the harvests are unsustainable," said Ron Morrison, ENR's regional superintendent.

According to ENR data, since 2000 the Cape Bathurst herd has dropped from 10,000 animals to 2,400. In that same time frame, the Bluenose West herd has dropped to 20,800 from 74,300 and the Bluenose East from 104,000 to 66,600.

Morrison pointed out that other factors, such as recent harsh winters and the species' natural population cycle, must also be taken into consideration as well as human activity.

"While we can't control things like weather or predation, we can control how we harvest," he said.

Morrison also confirmed that the "historical" percentage of females bagged was "very high," estimated to be between 70 and 90 per cent.

"If you target males, the impact would be less (severe) on a herd's ability to recover," he said. "But whether or not the ratio is 20 per cent female and 80 per cent male is almost irrelevant, you are still taking females out of the herd and it's the recruitment at the end of the day that matters."

Recruitment is technical speak for how many animals are born into a herd in a given year and each female harvested affects a herd's ability to recruit, he said.

Robert Charlie, Gwich'in Renewable Resources Board chair, says from the

board's perspective, they think the department's numbers are plausible but before any decisions are made, public consultations with the four Gwich'in communities would have to happen.

"At this stage we're trying to come up with some ideas," said Charlie. "From what we've heard from communities (their members are want to know if) the numbers right or wrong. If it's true than we should be proactive as users of the herd."

Similar consultations will have to take place within communities that fall under the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board and the Wildlife Management Advisory Council (Inuvialuit region) before those groups make their recommendations.

In the meantime, Natural Resources Minister Michael Miltenberger has ordered a recount of the herds.

Tagging of the herds' members for the purposes of determining population size typically begins in March. The recount is expected to take a year to complete.