Daniel T'seleie
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (June 22/05) - Knowledge of Inuit who have been living in the Kivalliq for their whole lives is more credible than Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) information on polar bear populations, said Rankin Inlet North MLA Tagak Curley.

"They have no database, they have no track record, they have no history," Curley said.

Information from a CWS study presented earlier this year suggests the Western Hudson Bay bear population may be threatened.

The population has declined to 1,000 animals from 1,200 in the last decade, said CWS research scientist Ian Stirling.

This information has the Nunavut government reviewing a January decision to increase polar bear hunting quotas.

Stirling attributes the decrease to "climatic warming," which causes ice on the bay to break up earlier, leaving the bears with a shorter hunting season and less food.

Curley said the range of these animals is "incredible," and the CWS claim of declining population levels is "not credible," and is not backed by, "a shred of evidence."

"We know for fact from the baseline that Inuit have used there is an increase," Curley said.

A hundred years ago there were no bears in the Rankin Inlet area, yet there are now, Curley said.

Increased sightings of bears near towns may just be hungry bears attracted by the smell of food and garbage and not an indication of greater numbers, Stirling said.

The CWS does not serve the people of Nunavut, and the territorial government can do without them, Curley said.

"I'm a hunter, I know what I'm talking about," Curley said.

U.S. interest

Curley's comments come after CWS findings on the Western Hudson Bay population sparked interest on bear quotas from the United States.

"We wrote (CWS) to seek information on the quotas," said chief of division of management authority for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Peter Thomas. The service decides whether hunters from the Unites States can return with hides and other trophies from polar bear hunts in Nunavut.

A 115 tag quota increase for Nunavut was approved in January, based on a mixture of traditional and scientific knowledge, said Jim Noble, chief operating officer for the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board (NWMB).

The wildlife service has not received information yet, but have been told the CWS is consulting with both Nunavut and the N.W.T. to get information together, Thomas said.

Under their Marine Mammal Protection Act, the United States is required to ensure polar bear hunts are, "based on scientifically sound quotas," Thomas said.

It is too early to say whether the U.S. hunters will be kept from bringing bear trophies back from Nunavut, Thomas said.

The information request does affect decision making when it comes to bear quotas in Nunavut, said Department of Environment assistant deputy minister Jane Cooper.

Each hunter from the U.S. contributes around $20,000 to the Nunavut economy, Cooper said.

Communities can expect to have a say on any changes to bear quotas, said Environment Minister Olayuk Akesuk.

"It's not just the government's decision."

Cooper said she expects consultations to begin this fall.