KITIKMEOT - Voluntary harvest restrictions may be necessary to help Bathurst caribou make it through a decline in herd population, says Nunavut's director of wildlife.

The computer screen in Drikus Gissing's office shows the various caribou herds and their territories in Nunavut. Gissing is director of wildlife management for the Government of Nunavut - Erika Sherk/NNSL photo

"On the decline of the Bathurst herd we are obviously very concerned," said Drikus Gissing, GN director of wildlife.

Numbers released in June from a herd survey in the NWT reported a decline of more than 95,000 to 31,897 from 128,047 animals since 2006 and the GNWT recommended hunting restrictions.

Larry Adjun, former chairperson of the Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organization (HTO), said though he's heard the reports of declining caribou, he isn't worried about the Bathurst population.

"Our traditional knowledge states that it always fluctuates," he said.

One herd declining doesn't affect Kugluktuk hunters very much, according to Adjun.

"We have the luxury of three herds near our community," he said.

Besides the Bathurst herd, Kugluktuk harvesters can access the Bluenose East and the Dolphin Union herds, he added.

The NWT has been taking the lead on the Bathurst herd, said Kitikmeot Regional Wildlife Biologist Mathieu Dumond, because they harvest much higher numbers from it. "The Bathurst is an important herd but it's a herd that is not used much by Nunavummiut," he said.

While the Bathurst herd is easily accessed by NWT hunters, said Dumond, when it enters Nunavut near Contwoyto Lake the herd heads North to its calving grounds west of Bathurst Inlet - far from any sizeable communities.

"It's mainly a question of accessibility," said Dumond. "The herd range in Nunavut is in an area where there are very few people."

A few small outpost camps around Contwoyto Lake and summer residents of Bathurst Inlet will harvest the herd and that's it, he said.

"There would be the odd Bathurst caribou that could be harvested on the coast in the summer by people from Kugluktuk, but very few," Dumond said.

The decline in the Bathurst herd is worrisome, but also part of nature, Gissing said.

"It has been noticed from past research as well as traditional knowledge that herds go through natural cycles where they increase and decline," he said. "Our concern now is what impact does development and human hunting and all these other pressures have on these herds recovering?"

The population dips come from a simple cycle: if food is plentiful and predators scarce, the numbers of caribou increase. At some point the caribou will outgrow their food sources and their predators will start to flourish with so much food available.

Disease travels fast between densely populated herds and animals soon die off to a level where the population can be better sustained. These decreases are natural but human activity can lengthen and deepen the decline in population, said Dumond.

"Hopefully we won't be in a case where it goes deep enough that it disappears. That's the ultimate worry."

An upcoming caribou strategy is expected to fill any gaps in knowledge, said Dumond. It has been in the works for about two years, he said.

The draft plan will enter community consultations this winter, in perhaps February or March, according to Gissing. Once the strategy is finalized, it will be tabled for cabinet approval, he said.

It's vital to increase the surveillance and monitoring of the species when they go through natural declines "to make sure the impacts from humans do not prevent the recovery of these herds," he said.

Nunavut, the NWT and Saskatchewan are also in the early stages of working out an inter-jurisdictional agreement, according to Gissing, to co-ordinate management of the caribou herds.

Voluntary restrictions from Nunavut communities may be necessary, as has been seen in the NWT.

Further, it could mean enforced hunting restrictions, though those can only be handed down by the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board (NWMB), Gissing said, and only after proceeding through the channels laid out in the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.

Jim Noble, chief operating officer of the NWMB, said that it was too early to comment on what action, if any, the board may take regarding the Bathurst herd.