SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Behchoko outfitting business is calling off this season's caribou hunt following the results of a photographic survey that shows Bathurst herd numbers are way down.

The abundance of caribou herds across the North is in question and governments are facing pressure to impose restrictions on hunters. - NNSL file photo

Last week the Department of Environment and Natural Resources released its June 2009 survey, estimating the number of breeding females on calving grounds has dropped to 4,500 from 55,600 in 2006. The department's overall population estimate for the herd stands at about 31,900.

Joyce Rabesca, co-owner of Rabesca Resources Ltd., said her company is out of the caribou hunt until further notice, in hopes that caribou numbers will increase in the meantime.

"We were kind of getting a feeling that things weren't too good earlier in the summer after they had done the calving ground survey," she said. "No matter what (ENR officials) say, we've found that caribou are, not coming through our area and it's really affected our sales of our hunts."

Business has been declining steadily over the past few years, Rabesca said. In 2006 their hunt success rate was 20 per cent, last year it fell to 10 per cent.

"It's pretty hard to sell hunts to people when they're just not being able to harvest caribou," she said, adding she expects some other local outfitters will be upset by the company's decision.

"I know some will be very disturbed that we've done this because for some reason they think if they argue hard enough and loud enough and continuous enough that it's going to change the situation with caribou - and I don't see it."

Rabesca said outfitters should all join in the conservation effort that includes the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, which announced earlier this month it would cancel its fall community hunt.

"We need to take action ourselves, take initiative to do what we can to conserve this herd and to maintain it for the long-term," Rabesca said. "I know it's going to affect our business, but I think we can do well by ourselves in the marketplace and all the residents of the NWT, those who rely on caribou, by participating in a well managed and a promoted conservation campaign."

John Andre, an outfitter who runs Courageous Lake Caribou Camps, about 320 km northeast of Yellowknife, has been a consistent critic of the GNWT's caribou count and he maintains that ENR's numbers are off.

"It's a hoax; it's baloney," he said. "I've had four different outfitters tell me, 'well if we've only got 30,000 caribou, they all went through my camp this year' - that's how many caribou we saw. So something isn't adding up right."

Andre added he had 150 hunters last season who brought back healthy game.

"If I thought the caribou were in crisis, I would close down the hunting operation," he said. "My business is still viable and I intend to keep it that way."

"This is a terrible loss for the economy of the Northwest Territories to close down this industry."

The NWT is not the only jurisdiction concerned about caribou numbers. The abundance of herds across the North is in question, and on Sept. 28 the Yukon government announced it would impose a mandatory bulls-only restriction on all hunters - licensed and aboriginal - to help protect the Porcupine caribou herd, on which many NWT Mackenzie Delta hunters rely.

The new interim rules, effective immediately, limit all licensed hunters, whether or not they are Yukon residents, to kill only one bull and register with the government through a tag system.

There is no limit on the number of bulls aboriginal hunters can harvest. The Yukon government estimates the population of the Porcupine herd is about 100,000, down from 123,000 in 2001.

The Gwich'in Tribal Council (GTC) objects to these new rules, saying the Yukon government did not properly consult with the Gwich'in before implementing the restrictions, which encompass areas governed under the Gwich'in Comprehensive land claim agreement.

"We feel unable to support these measures - albeit interim - as the Yukon Government failed to fully consult and accommodate the GTC, first on the drafting and unilateral implementation of the regulations which would impact our traditional harvesting practices," GTC president Richard Nerysoo said in a release issued Sept. 30.

Donald Andre, GTC director of lands, resources and implementation, said it was a matter of principle.

"We weren't consulted and we have rights under our land claim that clearly states we are to be consulted when any regulation is passed that will impact our rights," he said.

Andre said most hunters already target bulls only, and the council is "fully committed" to the conservation of the herd through the Porcupine Caribou Management Board, which consists of Inuvialuit, First Nations, Gwich'in, and government representatives. The next meeting of the board is in November.