SAHTU
Plunging caribou numbers means Deline hunters could implement a voluntary hunting ban on the bluenose east caribou herd for the rest of the season, says Chief Leonard Kenny.

With the bluenose east caribou herd numbers plunging from 68,000 in 2013 to approximately 40,000 in 2015, Deline hunters are proposing a ban on hunting the herd for this winter's caribou-hunting season. - NNSL file photo

Hunters were expected to make a decision during a meeting scheduled in Deline on Jan. 22.

"It will be up to the harvesters to decide what they want to do," Kenny said. "Those are one of the options."

In September, the territorial Department of Environment and Natural Resources announced the results of its summer surveys of all five barren land caribou populations.

The bluenose east herd had 68,000 animals in 2013. That number fell to about 35,000 to 40,000 by 2015. The number of breeding cows had dropped by 50 per cent in that same time frame, with only 17,000 in 2015 compared to 34,000 in 2013.

As a result of the decline, Deline established its own management plan for the herd, Kenny said.

"From the community standpoint, we decided to develop our own caribou management plan

based on our ancestors, the way they hunted," he said. "Our ancestors always did their own management in their own way."

The plan, titled Caribou for All Time, A Deline Got'ine Plan of Action, is guided by traditional knowledge and includes traditional laws that govern the people's relationship with the caribou. One example involves letting herds rest and recover.

The plan identifies the possibility of allowing the harvest of 100 caribou in a season, with the Deline Renewable Resources Council calling a meeting once that number has been reached to discuss shutting down the hunt. The first of those meetings was scheduled to take place on Jan. 22.

Territorial hunting guidelines

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources also has a management plan to try and slow the herd's decline. The plan is based on a three-year period from November 2015 to November 2019 during which commercial and resident harvesting would continue to be banned.

Residential and commercial hunting of the bluenose east herd has been banned since 2006, according to ENR.

Aboriginal hunters in the Northwest Territories would be permitted to harvest a total of 611 bull caribou a year under ENR's proposed plan, with 163 animals allocated to communities in the Sahtu region. The Tlicho would receive 373, the Dehcho would receive 15, the Inuvialuit would receive 8, the NWT Metis Nation would receive 14, the Akaitcho, 20 and the North Slave Metis Alliance, 17.

The numbers would be reviewed annually.

The Sahtu Renewable Resources Board is reviewing both plans, said executive director Deborah Simmons.

"Deline has worked closely with ENR on finalizing their plan and they understand that there needs to be discussions with the other communities and this is part of just one beginning part of a larger co-operative management process," she said.

Part of that process includes a public hearing to take place in Deline in from March 1 to March 3. The board will also be offering workshops in all five Sahtu communities prior to Deline's hearing, in addition to welcoming input submitted to the board in electronic format, Simmons said.

"We're putting a huge effort into ensuring that the affected parties have a full opportunity in a cross-cultural context to have their say," Simmons said. "And that includes taking seriously and accommodating both traditional knowledge and science."

The Wek'eezhi Renewable Resources Board (WRRB) will also host public hearings and members of both the WRRB and the SRRB will attend the other group's proceedings, Simmons said. The two boards signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the herd last October.

"That's one of the next steps, is for us to really gain a full sense of the various knowledges and perspective that are in play for wise decision making," she said.

The SRRB will then compile a hearing report, which all parties will review. A finalized report will be submitted to ENR Minister Wally Schumann.

The minister can then modify or reject the board's recommendations, but Simmons said the Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim states that the minister must provide reasons for changing any of the board's positions. The reasons must be provided to the board in writing.

"According to the land claim, the minister has to give reasons for varying positions of our board, so it has to be taken very, very seriously," she said.

"We are the main instrument of wildlife management in the Sahtu region, so this process is hopefully something that will lead to good consensus because of the collaborative approach that we're trying to take."

While working together is priority, Simmons said the group is also working under a tight deadline.

"We're under a pretty intense timeline because we're considering the time it takes to get to that point of making regulations and having them in place for the next harvest season," she said. "The idea is to act as quickly as possible."

Kenny said he agreed.

"The bottom line is the declining numbers, so we have to do something about it," he said.