Deline, N.W.T., hunters agree to end caribou hunt for the season
Hearings on management plans for Bluenose-East herd start March 1
Hunters in Deline, N.W.T., are being asked not to hunt any more Bluenose East caribou this season, now that the community's self-imposed limit of 150 animals has been harvested.
In a news release issued Tuesday, the Deline First Nation, the Deline Land Corporation, and the Renewable Resources Council said hunters had agreed to end the hunt for the season.
The groups are asking community members not to hunt on the east side of Keith Arm on Great Bear Lake. No-hunting signs will be posted.
The limit was called for under Deline's caribou management plan, translated in English as 'caribou for all time,' which it has submitted to the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board.
That plan regulates caribou conservation in Dene traditional ways. The plan also calls for enforcement of the policy by a group of elders.
The N.W.T. Department of Environment and Natural Resources also has a management plan that calls for a harvest limit of 163 animals for the entire Sahtu region.
According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Bluenose-East herd has declined from about 68,000 caribou in 2013 to between 35,000 and 40,000 in 2015.
The Sahtu board will consider both management plans at hearings scheduled for March 1-3 in the community.