Photo courtesy Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board
The board that manages and monitors the huge herds of barren ground Caribou is expressing concern about dwindling numbers and what may be a larger than normal harvest during this year’s hunt.
The chair of the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board, Earl Evans, said there needs to better controls and better accounting of how many animals are being taken.
Normally the hunt takes place in many smaller northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba communities but this year, the herd has abandoned its usual migration pattern and has converged on an area called Tadoule Lake about 950 kilometers north of Winnipeg.
Dene hunters from Northern Saskatchewan, as well as Manitoba and others areas, have also descended on the area. This has raised the concern and outrage of the Local Sayiss Dene band, which is calling the hunt a slaughter and an atrocity. It’s estimated about 5,000 animals have been taken in the area this winter.
Evans would like to see some sort of a needs assessment and a possible limit.
“I think that would be the proper way to go. This needs assessment has got to take into consideration that these people need that meat for the full year,” he said. “It is the only meat supply they have other than fish or the odd moose.”
Evans is also worried about the caribou numbers. While the barren ground caribou is not endangered its numbers have been on a decline over the last couple of decades. He said if it continues, the traditional hunt may have to come to an end.
“This is the last big herd there is, this is our last frontier. This is our last kick at the can,” he said. “If we let this herd go like we let the last three herds go we are going to be in big trouble.”
Hunters from the Hatchet Lake and Black Lake Dene nations in Saskatchewan are among those who have taken part in the Manitoba hunt.
Manitoba Environment officials are monitoring the situation.