Baffin Island caribou hunting ban backed by NTI

On January 1, a Baffin Island-wide ban on caribou hunting took effect as stakeholders begin the process of setting the first ever management plan for the population, which has largely disappeared in the last 20 years.

The Nunavut government’s decision to impose the temporary ban has been a controversial one, but Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the Inuit land claims organization, is supporting it.

“We support their decision,” says NTI vice-president James Eetoolook. “We feel that the caribou can come back to a healthy number again by putting a restriction on the harvesting of the number of caribou.”

Surveys show the population of the Baffin Island herd has dropped by nearly 90 per cent over the past two decades.

The government of Nunavut hopes a temporary ban on hunting will allow the herd to grow again.

In a news release, Eetoolook acknowledges that the Nunavut land claim gives the Environment Minister the power to make a harvesting decision in the event of “urgent and unusual circumstances” that require an immediate change in policy.

In the next few months, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board will hold a public hearing into the issue, and send its decision to the Environment Minister.

That process can take anywhere from six to eight months.