Yellowknife (Mar 13/06) - Along with caribou herds, the NWT might see a dwindling number of sports hunters this year as well.

That's because the Wildlife Management Advisory Council (WMAC) - a group aiming to conserve wildlife in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region - is recommending non-aboriginal, non-resident and commercial caribou hunting be stopped entirely.

The conservation group is also recommending that the total harvest should not exceed 240 for Cape Bathurst herds and 1,040 for Bluenose West herds until new caribou population information is made available this summer. That's when GNWT biologists will conduct a photo census of the two herds.

"The council believes these actions are in the best interests of Inuvialuit harvesters," said Larry Carpenter, WMAC chair.

The herds in question are the Cape Bathurst and Bluenose-West herds within barrenground caribou management areas in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.

Katherine Theissenhauson, a WMAC resource biologist, says any action by the GNWT should take into account how human activity affects caribou herds.

"The caribou populations do increase and decrease as part of their natural cycle," Theissenhauson said. "But any management action should focus on human activity."

The biologist cites winter conditions as another factor for declining caribou herds.

"In the last few winters we've seen deeper snow and warmer temperatures," Theissenhauson said, explaining warmer climates reduce caribou abilities to move, leaving them more vulnerable to predators and forcing them to move around the terrain to access vegetation.

"What it does is it makes moving difficult and the caribou then burn more energy," she said.

In the month of February alone, Environment Canada reported more than 30 daily high temperature records were broken.

Inuvik's average temperature was close to 10 degrees above normal for the month.

All this - coupled with the fact that the Delta hasn't received this much snow in 58 years, and the Arctic tundra recorded its second wettest year in history - is painting a rather grim and disturbing picture.

Boyd Warner, president of the Barrenground Caribou Outfitters Association, says aboriginals and outfitters can work together to improve caribou numbers.

"We do think outfitting and traditional use can go hand-in-hand," Warner said. "Outfitters could turn over the meat to communities."

This way the entire caribou is being used and there is no waste, Warner says, adding that when hunting begins in the fall, bulls are at their peak body weight.

"The volume per animal killed is best at this time," Warner said.

What is considered a delicacy by aboriginals - parts of the caribou such as the liver, tongue, and heart - are in most cases unwanted by sport hunters, says Warner.

"Most sport hunters only want bulls for their horns to have as a trophy," said David Noksana, owner and operator of Noksana's Big Game Guiding and Adventure in Tuktoyaktuk.

Noksana feels any new information regarding caribou populations should open up sport hunting again if the GWNT does halt it until the summer. "There needs to be a recount because there's lots of caribou around Paulatuk and that's the same herd that comes through here."

In the month of November, caribou hunting really picks up, says Noksana, so any interim measures to halt the hunt until the summer won't hurt outfitter's bottom line.

For Jonah Nakimayak, president of the Bekere Lake Lodge near Paulatuk, the recent caribou conundrum is only a matter in passing. "We were going to cancel the caribou hunt anyway before there was talk about caribou," Nakimayak said.