Agreement signed to protect the polar bears
Jacquie Clancy
Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: News
Canada's Environment Minister, Jim Prentice, Nunavut's Environment Minister, Daniel Sewchuck and Greenland's Minister of fisheries, hunting and agriculture, Ane Hansen, met in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland on Oct. 30 to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and demonstrate their dedication to the conservation of the polar bears that all three locations share.
"It's a positive thing because it's regulating the amount of hunting," said Milica Njegovan, Community Networking and Programming Coordinator at OPIRG Brock.
The most problematic locations for the polar bears are in Kane Bay and Baffin Bay because the polar bear population is shared by Greenland and Nunavut in these locations. This means that both locations had determined harvesting limits, and when put together these limits were detrimental to polar bear populations because too many bears were being hunted.
The new agreement will suggest harvesting quotas for hunters in Nunavut and Greenland and will hopefully result in a more sustainable system for the population of polar bears.
"We are dedicated to the conservation and management of the polar bear," said Prentice to reporters.
Earlier in the year, Prentice held a National Roundtable discussion focused on the management and conservation of polar bears. This discussion included the territories, provinces and other wildlife officials from Canada, Nunavut and Greenland. "At the meeting, the need to form an agreement on managing shared polar bear subpopulations was identified as a high priority", the MOU press release states.
However, the agreement has not come without its share of controversy as Inuit hunting rights have become a part of the discussion.
"I think it's important to consider how native populations get food, and what this quota means for them being able to survive throughout the winter," said Njegovan.
The Nunavut territorial government has proposed cutting hunting allowances from 105 to 64 annually in Baffin Bay. This has been met with some opposition from Inuit hunters in the region who say that the polar bear population is actually increasing.
"It's a positive thing because it's regulating the amount of hunting," said Milica Njegovan, Community Networking and Programming Coordinator at OPIRG Brock.
The most problematic locations for the polar bears are in Kane Bay and Baffin Bay because the polar bear population is shared by Greenland and Nunavut in these locations. This means that both locations had determined harvesting limits, and when put together these limits were detrimental to polar bear populations because too many bears were being hunted.
The new agreement will suggest harvesting quotas for hunters in Nunavut and Greenland and will hopefully result in a more sustainable system for the population of polar bears.
"We are dedicated to the conservation and management of the polar bear," said Prentice to reporters.
Earlier in the year, Prentice held a National Roundtable discussion focused on the management and conservation of polar bears. This discussion included the territories, provinces and other wildlife officials from Canada, Nunavut and Greenland. "At the meeting, the need to form an agreement on managing shared polar bear subpopulations was identified as a high priority", the MOU press release states.
However, the agreement has not come without its share of controversy as Inuit hunting rights have become a part of the discussion.
"I think it's important to consider how native populations get food, and what this quota means for them being able to survive throughout the winter," said Njegovan.
The Nunavut territorial government has proposed cutting hunting allowances from 105 to 64 annually in Baffin Bay. This has been met with some opposition from Inuit hunters in the region who say that the polar bear population is actually increasing.
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