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Polar bears doing well in Foxe Basin Darrell Greer Northern News Services Published Wednesday, July 4, 2012
The director of wildlife for Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. said Inuit have been saying there's a lot more bears than science recorded for more than a decade. He said the latest survey results, done during September of 2009 and 2010 by the Government of Nunavut (GN), show Inuit hunters and trappers were right again. "When Inuit hunters and trappers said there were more bears than what science was saying about 10 years ago, they upped the number a bit," said Nirlungayuk. "As evidenced by the latest results, there are even more bears than what Inuit agreed to and way more than what science was alluding to." The recent aerial surveys put the number of bears in Foxe Basin at 2,580, with the annual quota for area communities set at 106. Nirlungayuk said the story of the differences in opinion between science and Inuit is a long one. He said when studies go to the national level in Canada or the international community, it's based strictly on science so other peers and jurisdictions can understand it. "It was a different life back 40 or 50 years ago and, when a biologist would come here, he or she did pretty much anything they wanted to without talking to people. "They may have come at the wrong time, went to a wrong area, or somewhere experiencing a downswing in the population because the bears migrated somewhere else. "They never talked to locals and now Inuit are voicing their concerns and frustrations. Nirlungayuk said Inuit understand people doing the science go to university for their specialized vocations and put a lot of effort into work that often becomes their life. But, he said, that doesn't mean Inuit aren't going to speak up when they disagree with what science is reporting. "From an Inuk perspective, come on down and ask me if polar bears do hunt in the summer, which the scientific community still has not documented, for example. "You look at the bowhead study awhile back, when science put the number at 300 and Inuit said there's way more than that. The scientific community listened, came back, and it turned out there was 14,000 of them out there. There are examples out there when science listens to what Inuit are saying, and that's something polar bear biologists might learn a thing or two from." Repulse Bay, Chesterfield Inlet and Coral Harbour are the three Kivalliq communities directly affected by the Foxe Basin survey, along with Cape Dorset, Iglulik, Kimmirut, Hall Beach and four Nunavik communities. Nirlungayuk said community consultations on the Foxe Basin survey began this past week. He said if the communities or the GN want to increase the quota, they would have to submit a proposal to the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board. "With the season having just begun on July 1, there won't be any changes this year, of course. "But, for next season, it might be an exercise for all parties involved to, perhaps, see some change in the quota."
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