Illegal hunt of caribou being investigated, but stronger protections needed, says association

The Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture confirms it is investigating an illegal hunt of caribou in southern Labrador, involving a group of hunters from Quebec, while a hunting association says authorities need to do more to prevent the continued killing of the endangered animals.

It was reported that around 30 snowmobilers were in the area last week, amid concerns that an illegal hunt of the protected caribou in the area was underway.

Wildlife officers confirmed there were illegally harvested caribou in the area. Officers collected evidence from the scene, saying in a statement Monday that "enforcement action will be taken as the investigation continues."

Caribou hunting is not permitted in Labrador, with a ban on hunting the George River herd, which has only about 8,100 animals — one per cent its size in the early 1990s — as well as a ban on hunting animals in the Mealy Mountain and Lac Joseph herds, which have only about 1,696 and 3,136 animals, respectively, the department said.

It continues year after year after year.- Hollis Yetman

While the ban has been in place for years, the hunting of the caribou has been happening year after year, says Hollis Yetman, vice-president of the Labrador Hunting and Fishing Association.

Yetman said it's "no secret" that the Labrador Innu hunt the George River herd in the northern region, while hunters from the Pakuashipi Innu of Quebec have been hunting the animals in southern Labrador.

"These are gang and bully tactics used to engage in a protest hunt, and it's not good," Yetman said.

In this latest hunt, Yetman said, he's heard from people who live in the region that there was a pocket of about 30 caribou near Port Hope Simpson and Mary's Harbour areas.

"From my understanding from local people, that little bunch of caribou, the 30-odd caribou that was there, is gone. Like, they're no more," Yetman said, adding that there won't be caribou again in that area until the herd's population rebounds and is able to spread out again in pockets of small groupings.

Given the vast open Labrador land, the small herds tend to move in smaller pockets, with limited intermingling between factions within the herd, Yetman said.

"Significant damage is caused by this, the way these hunts happened with these fragmented groups of caribou."

Yetman, himself a former conservation officer, said tracking and enforcing the hunting bans is a significant challenge, given the remote locations, environmental factors, and the fact that it's a group of hunters with firearms.

"The issue is that caribou are getting killed. The area in southern Labrador is virtually untouched in terms of industrial development, we know that's not what's killing caribou," Yetman told CBC's Labrador Morning on Tuesday. "The bullets are killing caribou, and it continues year after year after year."

'It is not good enough'

Labrador MP Yvonne Jones said the illegal hunt is a "very serious issue," and has been for years. Protection and preservation of the caribou is the goal of the Ungava Peninsula Caribou Aboriginal Round Table, Jones said, although the Labrador and Quebec Innu left the table a few years ago.

"What they're doing is trying to assert their rights in a land claim, but in doing so they're being totally negligent and totally criminal in their activity toward a protected species, and that is not acceptable," Jones said.

"It is not good enough, and they need to be charged for what they're doing and they need to be charged to the maximum ability of the law to prosecute under these crimes."

In a statement, Environment and Climate Change Canada said it is working with officials in both Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as Indigenous communities, "on addressing threats to the caribou populations in Labrador," adding that the federal government is concerned about the impact the declining populations will have on Indigenous peoples and their traditional ways of life.

Provincial counterparts in Quebec confirmed via email that they are aware of the situation, adding that "vigilance to prevent and stop infractions committed against wildlife starts with intelligence efforts and communication between our services."

CBC has requested comment from the Quebec Innu but not heard back.

Jones said from what she's been told, the hunt is not ceremonial in nature, but rather a "planned an executed slaughter of an endangered species" that will result in fines.

In 2015, a group of hunters were charged with the illegal hunting of caribou, Jones, said, but those fines didn't do enough to discourage it from happening again.

"That has to change," Jones told CBC Labrador Morning on Monday. "There has to be a prosecution that will be to the fullest extent of the law and will be a deterrent to all illegal hunting that's happening around caribou."

To date, Jones said, the federal government has invested $15 million in the Ungave round table in an effort to protect the endangered caribou, with a number of other groups, including Nunatsiavut and NunatuKavut, continuing to take part. But, she said, no amount of money from government or policies put in place will deter the hunt if all groups aren't willing to participate.

"With the greatest efforts around policy, around conservation, around the protection of the species, with the many sacrifices that Labradorians and Labrador hunters have made, it's all out the window if you don't have every player at the table," she said.

That's a point Yetman agrees on, but, he said, "it can't be just talk."

"I would hope that somebody's making contact with the Innu on the Quebec North Shore and already scheduling meetings to sit down at tables to talk about this," Yetman said. "It can't wait until next year when hunters are in the country again."

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