Caribou decision delayed
No agreement yet on Bathurst and Bluenose-East herds as time runs out at leaders' meeting
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 17, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A potentially controversial decision on how to halt the decline of two caribou herds in the NWT has been put off until later this month.
Political leaders from aboriginal governments, the GNWT and wildlife management authorities met in Yellowknife on Nov. 7 to discuss the continued decline of the Bluenose-East and Bathurst barren ground caribou herds.
There are the two main options for each of the herds, according to Environment and Natural Resources Minister Michael Miltenberger.
"The Bluenose-East would be the set quota and the Bathurst, of course, given the low numbers, what's being looked at is a total ban," he said.
There will be a decision made by very early December, before the main part of hunting season begins, said Miltenberger.
There were about 60 people at the Nov. 7 meeting, which was a follow-up to a similar meeting held in August.
After that earlier meeting, technical staff gathered twice to discuss documentation and data, and brought ideas to the political leaders on Nov. 7.
The political leaders were supposed to look at the recommendations and make some decisions, but basically ran out of time after aboriginal leaders went into a lengthy in-camera session that ended at 3:30 p.m., said Miltenberger.
"We just ran out of time," he said. "When I was in the room, we never got to the Bathurst herd because we were talking in some length about the Bluenose-East."
Miltenberger would not get into details of the discussion that took place at the meeting.
"I think it's premature to talk about details of who said what," he said. "The talks are still underway and when we conclude the talk there'll be plenty of time for post mortem, but at this point it wouldn't be helpful, I don't think, to attribute comments to individual aboriginal governments or people until we let this run its course."
The minister said he believes a consensus is still possible.
"Barring that, we'd have to make what we see to be the most appropriate decision to protect the herds," he said. "Fundamentally, first and foremost, it's a wildlife conservation issue."
The Bathurst herd numbered about 470,000 in 1986 and declined to about 35,000 between 2009 and 2012.
A June 2014 reconnaissance survey of the Bathurst calving ground suggested the herd continues to decline, and is now at an estimated 15,000 animals.
Currently, there is not a full ban on hunting the Bathurst herd.
"There were 300 tags - 150 for the Yellowknives and 150 for the Tlicho," said Miltenberger. "Other than that, there was no hunting."
A 2013 population survey of the Bluenose-East herd indicated it had declined to about 68,000 animals from the more than 100,000 animals estimated during the 2010 survey.
A June 2014 reconnaissance survey of the Bluenose-East calving ground suggested that the herd has continued to decline by about 30 per cent.
Hunting of the Bluenose-East herd is governed by a voluntary number of about 2,800 animals set in 2010.
That voluntary target has failed because it has been exceeded by two or three or more times, said Miltenberger. "Now what's being considered is a range somewhere between 1,000 and 1,200."
One of the leaders at the Nov. 7 meeting was Garry Bailey, president of the Northwest Territory Metis Nation.
Bailey said the Northwest Territory Metis Nation supports a total allowable harvest number for the Bluenose-East herd.
"But as far as the Bathurst herd goes, we haven't harvested them in the last five years, so we're still remaining with that position," he said. "We voluntarily are not hunting that herd, although we do assert that we have that right."
Population surveys for the Bathurst and Bluenose-East herds are planned for the summer of 2015.
