Christine Grimard
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 10, 2007

FORT GOOD HOPE - The Sahtu Renewable Resource Board were given the clear message that quotas on caribou are not wanted by the communities.

The council held hearings in Fort Good Hope Nov. 21 to 23 on the possibility of establishing a total allowable harvest for the Bluenose West caribou herd. The hearings were held after the department of Environment and Natural Resources asked the SRRB to establish management actions in the area, in response to photo-census surveys that show a declining number of caribou.

The public who attended the meeting showed strong opposition to a possible quota, with concerns that traditional knowledge wasn't being used in the ENR survey.

"Everybody was saying no to quotas," said Alvin Orlias, vice-president of the Ayoni Keh Land Corporation. "Giving us a quota, it's like us going down to your supermarket and shutting it down. We're barely making ends meet as it is."

Michel Lafferty, a resident of Fort Good Hope who spends much of his time on the land, said that fluctuating numbers are something he's seen over the past three decades and is nothing new to the area.

In the 1970s, Lafferty lived in the bush, living on fish for five or six years without any caribou in sight. Then in the 1980s, he started seeing caribou all over the place.

While he's recently seen a decline in caribou numbers, he suggests local management options rather than a strict quota.

"They don't want a quota, they're afraid of it," said Lafferty. "If they put (the quota in place) it's the law, they can't lift it."

A total allowable harvest is just one of the options being considered by the SRRC, who will submit the final recommendations to the minister. While the council is not disputing ENR's numbers, Jody Snortland, executive director of the SRRC, said the community's opposition will weigh strongly in their decision on whether to establish a quota.

"That was the point of holding the hearing, we don't want to make a decision without hearing the concerns," said Snortland.

Unlike the ENR survey which relies on scientific data, the SRRC considers traditional knowledge, with projects in Deline, Fort Good Hope, and Colville lake interviewing elders to find out about human/caribou relations and predator/caribou relations.

The council plans on submitting their recommendations to the minister before Christmas. The minister then has 60 days to respond. Snortland couldn't say yet what those recommendations would be, but said, "some people aren't going to be happy."