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The United States put forward a motion to ban international trade on polar bear parts at a meeting in Thailand for participants in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. - NNSL file photo

INUVIK
There might be increasing international pressure to stop Canada's polar bear trade, but it's not going to have any immediate effect in the NWT.

In March, a United States proposal that would ban international trade in polar bear parts will be put forward at meeting in Thailand for participants in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Canada is the only nation with a trade in polar bear parts.

It's looking as if the proposal might pass, but Frank Pokiak, the chair of the Joint Secretariat - Inuvialuit Renewable Resource Committees, which manages wildlife locally, said it might be rather self-defeating.

The proposal would place polar bear parts, including hides, in the same category as elephant ivory, blocking cross-border sales.

Pokiak, whose office is located in Inuvik, said he isn't overly concerned about the impact locally for Inuvialuit hunters, who are concentrated in the Tuktoyaktuk area. However, he also warned the ban could drive up interest in the items on the black market.

"We are still going to harvest polar bears," he said. "But we're worried about that it could increase interest and prices on the black market, which is not good."

The secretariat is a joint management group for Inuvialuit hunters around the territories and into Alaska, Pokiak said. The polar bear harvest, similiar to all other big game animals, is managed by a quota system that is strictly enforced and based on scientific research.

"Our quota covers a very small percentage of the population of bears, maybe 1.5 per cent," he said. "In the southern Beaufort area, we have a quota of 40 bears. That's being reduced next year to 35 bears, but we've been averaging about 30 bears taken a season. That shows you the quota system is working."

"It's an important part of our economy," Pokiak added. "We would still be able to sell within Canada, so it won't stop us from hunting. We have a responsibility to manage wildlife, rather than the government, and we're going to do that."

This year, he said the harvest is likely to be smaller than the 30 bears that's been taken on average in the last few seasons. That's because the ice conditions are working against local hunters.

Pokiak said there seems to be a good population of bears on the coast off Tuktoyaktuk, but the ice is too rough for the hunters to get to them.

The number of bears in any given area is always dictated by ice conditions, he said, and can fluctuate hugely.

Interestingly, the World Wildlife Fund also isn't in support of the American motion.

"We recognize that the retreat of sea-ice habitat, driven by runaway global climate change, is by far the leading threat to polar bears and the Arctic," said Geoff York, the WWF Arctic species lead. "The most urgent need for polar bear conservation at this time is an effective and strong climate change deal that keeps global average temperature increases under 2 C and sets a clear path towards an equitable and sustainable low carbon economy. WWF notes that polar bear range states are committed by international treaty to protect polar bear habitat and have identified climate change as the primary threat to address."

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