Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

IQALUIT (Jun 21/99) - Nunavut hunters are starting to decide for themselves how many is enough.

The end of federal control of wildlife harvesting quotas is expected to begin with narwhal hunting in four Nunavut communities this summer.

"The board has decided to throw out the (narwal) quotas for four communities and look at a different management system," said Nunavut Wildlife Management Board executive director Jim Noble.

"That's in progress now," said Noble. "There will be a letter going to the minister (of Fisheries and Oceans Canada) withdrawing the quotas on Arctic Bay, Repulse Bay, Broughton Island and Pond Inlet."

The Nunavut Final Agreement gives the NWMB the authority to manage wildlife in the new territory. The only exception to that rule, said Noble, occurs when there is a conservation concern with a species and in that case the federal government is responsible for showing a legitimate concern exists.

Federal quotas apply until lifted by the NWMB.

Hunters and trappers organizations in each of the four communities will be responsible for establishing and enforcing the rules of the hunt, as well as keeping track of how many narwals are taken and how many are wounded, but not caught.

"It's going to be very important to us to know how many have been landed and how many have been wounded and how many have sunk," said Pond Inlet HTO chairman Jayko Alooloo.

Department of Fisheries and Oceans biologist Patrice Simon participated in the drafting the new hunting rules for each community.

He said counting the whales that are wounded but not landed will, for the first time, give biologists a handle on the total number of animals affected by the hunt. Until now, only the whales landed were counted.

"The elders endorsed it and told hunters not to be afraid to report their losses. Every hunter knows that losing animals is part of hunting and nothing to be ashamed of," said Simpson, adding that the reports will be anonymous.

Alooloo said hunters will be issued tags and forms to fill out with information about the animals they harvest.

"I'm sure it's going to be better (than the quota system)," said Alooloo. "When we enforced the quota with DFO the hunters always tried to get as much as they could. Hunting will be smoother now and everybody will be much happier."

Most of the narwal hunting done in Nunavut happens in the four communities where quotas were lifted. Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay had the highest narwal quotas in the North, at 100 each.

Alooloo was part of a committee struck to develop bylaws that will apply to the hunt. Hunters are responsible for enforcing bylaws, which prohibit such things as wasting meat and muktuk.

The bylaws were developed in co-operation with community hunters, elders, the DFO and a lawyer from the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, said Alooloo.

In the fall, said Simon, consideration will be given to lifting quotas in other communities that hunt narwal. Each of the next three winters the effectiveness of the new narwal system will be assessed, he said. The system will be in place for at least three years.

Noble said the board will soon begin to consider lifting quotas on walrus for some communities.

Simon said when that happens a new factor enters the equation -- money. Apart from their tusks, which can be sold, narwal are hunted for food.

Walrus, on the other hand, are taken for food and by southern sport hunters.

"If it can be handled without a quota, that's great," said Simon. "But because the hunting brings in money that's another element we have to assess."