DFO unveils 2009 beluga management plan for Nunavik

The final management plan for the 2009 beluga hunt in Nunavik is now public, following its recent approval by the minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

This year marks the last time Nunavik beluga hunters are following a plan negotiated by the Lumaq beluga co-management committee.

Next year the Nunavik Marine Region Wildlife Board, the new offshore management board for Nunavik, takes over responsibility for setting quotas.

But the 2009 plan includes a warning from the federal department of Fisheries and Oceans that Ottawa will still have the final word on future beluga management in Nunavik.

“Fisheries and Oceans Canada retains ultimate responsibility for conservation of certain fish and all marine mammals, including habitat in Nunavik,” the management plan says.

And the 2009 plan also warns that if this year’s more generous beluga quotas and requests for samples aren’t respected, Nunavik hunters could still see a reduction in the beluga hunt for 2010.

“Failure to take samples or respect of TAT [Total Allowable Takes] can impact future approvals,” it says.

The 2009 plan outlines how it “modestly increases” quotas from 192 in 2008 to 224.

But there’s a catch: Nunavik hunters are supposed to take most of the region’s quota belugas— 155 in total— in the Hudson Strait to reduce the hunt of belugas from eastern Hudson Bay.

And hunters are supposed to hunt mainly in the summer and spring, not in the fall when thousands of beluga often stream through the Hudson Strait.

The order to hunt in spring and summer is part of the plan because the DFO says its analyses of beluga tissues show hunters often catch belugas from the eastern Hudson Bay during their fall migration through the Hudson Strait.

The DFO surveyed the eastern Hudson Bay population in 2008 and determined its numbers were down from 4,300 belugas in 1985 to 3,000 in 2008.

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada says belugas in eastern Hudson Bay are endangered, that is, at risk of extinction, and need a recovery plan.

In 1845, belugas in the eastern Hudson Bay were thought to number 12,500, so the DFO says a recovery plan needs to aim for a population of about 70 per cent of this size or 8,750.

With no harvesting of belugas, the number of eastern Hudson Bay belugas would reach the recovery population size of 8,750 in 35 years.

If 50 eastern Hudson Bay belugas are hunted every year in Nunavik, the recovery may take 200 years.

“Science,” says the plan, feels that the longer the recovery period, the greater the possibility of disease and ice entrapments which could “seriously jeopardize recovery.”

However, this year’s plan calls for a hunt of about 50 belugas from the eastern Hudson Bay— 23 belugas from the eastern Hudson Bay itself and others coming from the Hudson Strait hunt.

The DFO said it accepted the quota 50 belugas on the condition of that more tissue samples are supplied.

The DFO would have also liked to see no beluga hunting at all in Ungava Bay because it says the size of the Ungava Bay population is unknown and too few samples have been obtained.

But the quota for 2009 is nine.

“As long as animals are not harvested at the Mucalic Estuary, the removal of a small number of animals that are properly sampled could provide valuable information on the identity of this group of animals, and would likely have minimal impact,” says the plan.

The DFO working with Uumajuit wildlife officers and hunting organizations will try to make sure Nunavik hunters stick to the quotas and sample their catch.

Next year’s beluga management plan is supposed to include a mix of traditional and scientific knowledge because it will be the first negotiated by the Nunavik Marine Regional Wildlife Board, made up of seven members — three members appointed by Makivik (Johnny Peters, Quitsaq Tarqiasuk, Robbie Tookalook), two by the federal government (Jean-Guy Beaudoin, Luc Bélanger), one by the Government of Nunavut (Sandy Akavak), and a chairperson (to be nominated by the six members.)

But their plan may still be contentious because Nunavik hunters say they’re not persuaded by the DFO’s science and genetic analysis.

They say they see just one numerous population of beluga, particularly in the Hudson Strait, which could support a larger hunt.

And some are also against supplying tissue samples because they say the DFO only uses this information later as a justification to limit the traditional hunt.