TLICHO - The Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board (WRRB) has recommended that an aboriginal harvest target of 300 caribou from the Bathurst herd be established for each of the next several years.

The board made the recommendation - covering 2010/2011 to 2012-2013 - in an Oct. 8 170-page report to the Tlicho Government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR).

It also recommended that all commercial, outfitted and resident harvesting from the Bathurst herd in the Wek'eezhii region be set to zero for the same time period.

Last year, ENR reported the Bathurst herd had declined significantly and urgent management actions were required.

A 2009 population survey identified only 32,000 animals in the herd, down from 120,000 just three years earlier.

The board would like to see its recommendations put into effect no later than Jan. 1, 2011. Until then, it recommended that ENR's emergency measures - an interim ban on hunting established on Jan. 1, 2010 - should remain in effect.

In November, the Tlicho Government and ENR submitted a 'Joint Proposal on Management of Caribou in Wek'eezhii' to the board. The proposal included harvesting limitations of 300 caribou - the majority of them bulls - from the Bathurst herd.

The report recommended the 300 harvest limit be implemented as a target instead of imposed as a total allowable harvest.

"The Governments argue that there will be more community support and ownership of management actions if a target is used rather than a total allowable harvest," the report reads.

However, the recommendations go on to state that should the caribou harvest exceed 300 animals by 10 per cent or more then regulations should be put in place to close all harvesting in areas occupied by the bathurst herd. The board also reserves the right to reconsider imposing a total allowable harvest should the harvest exceed the 10 per cent threshold, according to the report.

Similar considerations will be made should the hunt exceed 45 cows.

Distribution of the 300 harvested animals was also addressed in the document.

A majority of the hunt - 225 animals - will go to Tlicho communities while the reaming 75 will be distributed to other aboriginal groups with hunting rights in the Wek'eezhii region.

"The Tlicho Government should determine distribution of the allocation within Tlicho communities and ENR should determine distribution of the allocation to members of an aboriginal people with rights to hunt in Môwhì Gogha De Nîîtåee (Wek'eezhii) in consultation with those groups," the report reads.

The board held a two-part public hearing on the matter in Behchoko in March and August.

"The WRRB has concluded, based on all available information, that a conservation concern exists for the Bathurst caribou herd and management actions are vital for herd recovery," the report states.

It also recommended that ENR and the Tlicho Government establish an aboriginal harvest target of 2,800 caribou annually from the Bluenose-East herd from 2010/2011 to 2012/2013.

"The harvest target and its allocation should be finalized in discussions between the existing wildlife co-management boards and aboriginal governments in the Sahtu, Dehcho and Tlicho," the report states.

Should the harvesting limit be exceeded by 10 per cent and/or more than 420 cows culled the board reserves the right to ban hunting in areas occupied by the bluenose herd, according to the report.

The board also recommended that commercial, outfitted and resident harvesting of the Bluenose-East herd in Wek'eezhii be set to zero from 2010/2011 to 2012/2013.

It was also asked to make recommendations regarding the Ahiak herd, but reported there is insufficient information to suggest a target for aboriginal harvesting. However, it did recommend all commercial, outfitted and resident harvesting from the Ahiak herd in Wek'eezhii be set to zero from 2010/11 to 2012/13.

"The WRRB believes that limiting the harvest of the Bathurst, Bluenose-East and Ahiak caribou can have a great impact on recovery," the report states. "The decisions have been structured to have the least impact on caribou users and the greatest benefit to caribou that we can provide at this time."

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