Land-claim body wants Nunavut whale quota increased

Nunavut's land-claim organization wants the territory's wildlife board to consider increasing — or scrapping altogether — the quota on hunting bowhead whales.

Representatives of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans were at a public hearing in Iqaluit Thursday of the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, which is thinking of adding a second bowhead whale to this year's quota.

The community of Kugaaruk will host this year's hunt some time during the summer. Under Nunavut's land claim agreement, the Inuit are allowed to hunt one bowhead whale every two or three years.

Figures presented by the Fisheries Department, however, show Inuit in Nunavut, Nunavik and Greenland could hunt a combined total of 10 whales each year without hurting the population, which is estimated to be around 14,000 whales in the eastern Arctic.

Nunavut Tunngavik wildlife adviser Glenn Williams said there's been no evidence presented that hunting or any other form of harvesting threatens the whales.

"We feel that the [wildlife board] should remove the TAH [total allowable harvest] on bowhead whales at this time," he said.

Wildlife board officials said they plan to hold meetings at a later date to discuss the issues raised by the new numbers from Fisheries.

In the meantime, the board is expected to decide whether to allow for the second whale, then pass its recommendation to federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn. The minister will then have 60 days to make the final decision.

"As far as we understand, there's no conservation concern if we take one more bowhead for the summer," board chairman Joe Tigullaraq said.

"But that's for the board to decide, and when the board decides, it will be giving its decision to the minister of DFO for support."