Arctic Bay (Sep 13/04) - A situation involving wasted whale meat could have been avoided with better communication between the Hunters' and Trappers' Organization (HTO) and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), according to officials from the two organizations.

The HTO received a call at about 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27, from the wife of a hunter who found a dead bowhead whale, seeming to have been attacked by a killer whale, about 100 kilometres outside Arctic Bay.

Believing DFO needed to test the animal before it could be harvested, Ikajutit HTO manager Collene Taqtu called the department in Iqaluit to see what parts of the animal were needed.

When the officers were not available, she called the Iqaluit wildlife office, which told her to wait until after the weekend to talk to DFO.

Poor weather held up a planned trip out to see the whale, Taqtu said, and the sample was not sent to the DFO lab in Manitoba until Saturday, Sept. 4. By that time, the smooth and soft skin of the 37-foot long animal had turned dry and wrinkly and the meat had spoiled.

"There's nothing else we can do, except wait for the results," Taqtu said.

Karen Ditz, a fisheries management biologist with DFO, said test results are not necessary before harvesting an animal found dead on the land.

Paqtu only asked if the department wanted samples from the animal, not if it could be harvested, Ditz said.

"We don't give advice on whether or not it's safe to eat at that moment," Ditz said.

"That would be the hunter's judgement."

She explained that test results can help determine things such as an animal's cause of death or whether it was diseased.

Communication between DFO and the HTO could be improved, Ditz said, adding "it is a problem that they don't know it is their choice."

Having a wildlife officer in the community at the time may also have helped the situation, Ditz said.

The HTO is asking for more complete information from DFO in the future.

Currently, the organization doesn't have copies of the forms outlining which body parts are needed for test results, Taqtu said.

Incident will be discussed

Ditz said this incident will likely be discussed with Nunavut Wildlife Management Board and an effort to communicate proper guidelines to HTOs across Nunavut will be made.

"We have to work with the (Nunavut Wildlife Management) board to make sure that is clarified," Ditz said.

The NWMB holds final say on government policies concerning wildlife.