James Hrynyshyn
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 08/98) - While Pangnirtung hunters plan for this summer's bowhead whale hunt, Inuit and federal negotiators are nearing an agreement to create the country's first whale sanctuary just a few hundred kilometres north.

The Iqaliqtuuq National Wildlife Area would cover most of Isabella Bay, considered by both scientists and Clyde River elders to be one of the last refuges for the endangered bowhead whale.

According to independent biologist Kerry Finley, whose 14 years of research was used to support the proposal, only "a few hundred" bowheads remain in Eastern Arctic waters.

Though reliable estimates are hard to come by, Finley said the Baffin Bay population may be as large as 350 whales, with about 100 using the bay, to feed and rest.

"If there's a sanctuary, the bowheads may become more abundant," said Patrick Palluq, co-ordinator of the Clyde River Hunters and Trappers Association, which is the designated Inuit organization for negotiations.

Also at the table are the Canadian Wildlife Service, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the World Wildlife Fund, which has supported much of Finley's research.

The proposal for a whale sanctuary dates back to the early 1980s, when Clyde River hunters and trappers agreed that the Isabella Bay whale habitat should be protected. More than 15 years later, negotiations are almost complete.

NTI is withholding approval of an Inuit impact benefit agreement, however. An IIBA is required under the Nunavut land claim, and according to NTI implementation director Bruce Gillies, the draft agreement doesn't include enough economic benefits.

"The potential for whale-watching would be an economic opportunity and NTI didn't feel it had been reviewed properly," Gillies said.

Both NTI and the Yellowknife office of the Wildlife Service are waiting for senior federal bureaucrats to respond to a request for another round of negotiations. Gillies said Ottawa should also help fund a whale-watching program.

"Nobody has done an IIBA before and nobody here knows long it would take," said Vicky Johnston, who represents the Wildlife Service. "We're in a holding pattern."

Meanwhile, said Palluq, the project's steering committee in Clyde River is trying to come up with a plan "for ensuring the bowhead are not bothered when people go out to see them."

Still, all parties said protection of the bowhead whale, which is listed as endangered in Canada, is the primary objective, and are optimistic that the differences can be worked out soon.

Gillies said he expects an agreement some time this summer.

If approved, the Iqaliqtuuq National Wildlife Area would be the first protected area created using the process laid out in the Nunavut land claim. Isabella Bay is about 100 kilometres south of Clyde River.