A quarter of all Baffin Island caribou tags issued in 2015 went unused

Despite concerns over the availability of caribou hunting tags for Baffin Island, a quarter of the ones issued last season were never used.

Now, a new set of tags for the 2016/17 hunting season will be issued this month.

"Unharvested tags will not be carried over to the next harvest season," reads a statement to CBC News by Nunavut's Department of Environment.

"The total allowable harvest for Baffin Island caribou will remain at 250 male-only tags for the 2016/17 season." 

Last summer, the territory partially lifted a hunting ban on Baffin Island caribou, issuing tags based on recommendations form the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board.

The board suggested the quota after consulting with a number stakeholders in March 2015, including Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., Parks Canada, hunters and trappers organizations across Baffin Island and the Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board, which is responsible for allocating tags. 

'Hardly any' caribou near Arctic Bay

As of June 29, only 185 caribou had been harvested out of 250 according to numbers provided by the Department of Environment.

It's unclear why exactly, but the head of the hunters and trappers organization in Arctic Bay — where only eight of 30 tags were used — says in his community, it's because hunters have to travel to Igloolik or Pond Inlet to find any caribou.

"There's hardly any in North Baffin close to Arctic Bay area," said Jobie Attitaq.

It didn't used to be like that, Attitaq said. Now, Arctic Bay has to order caribou from other hamlets when the community holds a feast.

When the quota system was implemented last year, Attitaq said elders in the hamlet were not in favour because they were concerned the system would create "chaos" between hunters.

But Attitaq does not see any other way to help protect what's left. 

"We're just starting to realize how hard this system is working in each community."

Click on the map to see how many caribou were harvested in each Baffin Island community during the 2015/16 hunting season. Each community received 30 tags in August 2015, except for Igloolik, which received 10. The numbers are as of June 29, 2016 and were provided by the Nunavut Department of Environment.