KUGLUKTUK/COPPERMINE - Hunters in Kugluktuk say a caribou ban imposed by the Government of the Northwest Territories will strain other herds in the Kitikmeot region.

On Jan. 1, the GNWT's department of Environment and Natural Resources put an emergency hunting ban on caribou in the North Slave region due to the herd's decline. A 2009 survey found the Bathurst herd's population had dropped to 32,000 from the 186,000 recorded in 2006.

As a result of the ban, harvesters in the Yellowknife region are being encouraged to hunt from other herds in the area, including the Ahiak, Bluenose East and West and the Dolphin and Union herds, according to the Kugluktuk Hunters' and Trappers Organization. The herds are shared between the NWT and Nunavut.

But the other herds are also weakening, Kugluktuk HTO Floyd Kaitak said.

"Every herd is in decline," he said.

On Feb. 12, Kaitak sent a letter to Michael Miltenberger, the GNWT's minister of Environment and Natural Resources following an HTO board meeting on Jan. 28.

The letter outlined the concerns of hunters in Kugluktuk, stating that the herds NWT harvesters are being encouraged to hunt are also in decline.

"Kugluktuk HTO feels that the decision to harvest from other caribou herds as measure to compensate the harvesting ban on the Bathurst caribou winter range is not appropriate considering the similar declining trends experienced by these caribou herds," the letter said.

Kaitak told Nunavut News/North the board and other communities were not consulted before the GNWT made its decision.

"I guess we weren't quite happy with the fact that they did that without consultations with the other communities that are sharing the Bluenose herd," he said.

Kaitak said the community mainly harvests the Bluenose-East herd, as do other communities in the west.

"We haven't seen the Bathurst herd in our area for the last seven to 10 years," he said. "Usually we hunt the Bluenose East, not only Kugluktuk but the herd is shared with one or two of the western communities as well."

Another HTO meeting was held on Feb. 17, Kaitak said.

"The meeting was just a start, we're going to hold more meetings on the caribou issues because we know all the herds are in decline now," he said.

President of the Kitikmeot Regional Wildlife Board Attima Hadlari also sent a letter to the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resource Board interim chairman Grant Pryznyk on Feb. 17 addressing the concerns of Kitikmeot hunters.

In the letter, Hadlari wrote that members of the Kitikmeot Regional Wildlife Board and HTOs are planning to attend an upcoming public hearing in the North Slave region about the KRWB's Joint Proposal on Caribou Management Actions in Wek'eezhii.

"Some of the options presented in the joint proposal regarding potential harvest of Bluenose East and Ahiak caribou are of concern to our members and we would like to be consulted and part of any discussions that may impact our membership," the letter said.

Hadlari wrote that while Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay had sent their concerns to the Wek'eezhii board, there had been "limited discussion" in other Kitikmeot communities.

Attending the meeting will ensure "their comments and concerned are also considered," Hadlari wrote.

In the end, a more complete population estimate needs to be done before allowing hunters to harvest from other herds in place of the Bathurst herd, Hadlari wrote.

"The option to divert pressure from the Bathurst herd onto other herds in Nunavut should only be done if there is solid information on the population estimate and status of the herd along with consultation and support from communities that are directly affected," he wrote.

Kaitak said the HTO is hoping a survey on the Bluenose herd will take place in the summer.

"Hopefully by next summer we'll get some real numbers where they didn't get a chance to do a survey on the Bluenose herd this past summer," he said.