The Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı (Sahtú Renewable Resources Board released the Bluenose East Hearing Report, Ɂekwę ́hé Dene Ts’ı̨lı̨ - Sustaining Relationships, a month ago. The Minister has now completed his initial review and response. In a letter including point-by-point responses to the 39 decisions in the Board’s Hearing Report on conservation measures for the Bluenose East herd, Minister Robert C. McLeod accepted many of the Board's decisions. However, he also asked the Board to consider varying several of its decisions.

On March 1-3 of this year, the Board held a public hearing to review proposed plans for Bluenose East ɂekwę́ management submitted by the GNWT and by the community of Délı̨nę, the primary harvester of the Bluenose East herd in the Sahtú Region. After considering the evidence, the board made a number of decisions on measures to support the health of the Bluenose East herd, including a decision to accept Délı̨nę’s community-based conservation planning approach.

The Minister supports, in principle, the decision to accept the  community ɂedets’ę́ k’áots’erewe (self-regulation) approach as a culturally appropriate and effective mechanism for addressing Bluenose East ɂekwę́ conservation. The Minister notes that this approach is relatively new and that its effectiveness needs to be monitored and adapted as needed.

While accepting the overall approach put forward by the Board, the Minister has asked the Board to vary the following key decisions on harvest:

• The Minister asks the Board to consider a proposed Bluenose East harvest for the Sahtú Settlement Area of 129 BNE ɂekwę́ (rather than the 150 that Délı̨nę had proposed as a ceremonial harvest for its community). The Minister’s request is based on the Wek'èezhı̀ı Renewable Resources Board’s recent decision that the herd-wide harvest across all regions should be 750 rather than the 950 ɂekwę́ for conservation reasons.
• The Minister asks the Board to consider a maximum harvest of five tsı́da (females), rather than the Board’s original decision for a majority yárégo (bull) harvest with 20% tsı́da (female) harvest for ceremonial and cultural purposes.  

The Board will work with the Délı̨nę community (whose community conservation planning approach both the Board and the Minister have now accepted in principle) to review the Minister's response. By October 26, the Board will issue its reply to the Minister's requests to vary several of the Board's decisions.

For more information, please contact:

Meagan Wohlberg

mcwohlberg@gmail.com

867-688-0557

The SRRB has required additional time to consider and integrate the additional evidence received from ENR, the Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organisation and Colville into its decisions and final Report. In light of this, the Board has deferred its timeline for an additional three days, to July 28, 2016.

The Board reminds Parties in the hearing that section 13.8.24(b) of the Sahtú Dene and Métis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement (SDMCLCA) provides that, unless the Minister directs otherwise, the SRRB’s Final Report will remain confidential for a period of 60 days, or until September 18, 2016.

Thank you for your patience. If you have any questions, please contact Joe Hanlon at 867-588-4040, or info@srrb.nt.ca.

The following information is provided:

• The data are from aerial surveys of the two herds during calving in early June, 2016.

• Breeding tsı́da (females) of the Bluenose-East ɂekwę́ were grouped in a more compact area on the calving grounds than in 2015. Bedzıo (bulls) were spread out south of Kugluktuk.

• The surveys are taken from airplanes flying routes, or transects, over the herds but are NOT photographic surveys which are more accurate and take more time to analyse. The next photographic survey is scheduled for 2018.

• The tight grouping of the adult ɂekwę́ on the BNE calving grounds makes accurate counting more difficult using this type of survey.

• There were 36 radio-collared tsı́da in the area surveyed, all of which were located (i.e., it is unlikely that any major groups of tsı́da were missed in the survey).

• ENR estimated that there were 18,500 adult (over 1 y old) ɂekwę́ in the BNE at ɂekwę́ nę́go lek’e (the calving grounds). There is no estimate of the number of calves present. Bedzıo were not counted.

• ENR concludes that the BNE is continuing to decline, although not as quickly as in the last 5 years. The Bathurst may have increased by a small amount since the last survey.

• The conclusions from the survey are very tentative, and are only used for rough estimates.

The KHTO submission proposes development of a Community Caribou Management Plan (ICCMP) developed in consultation with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association as a KHTO-controlled alternative to the Total Allowable Harvest (TAH) proposed by the Government of Nunavut (GN), stating that "the KHTO does not believe that a TAH is necessary and should only be used as a last resort." The following tools in the ICCMP are identified, as follows:

1. Setting a limit on KHTO member harvest which is controlled by the KHTO;
2. Mandatory BNECH harvest reporting to the KHTO by members;
3. Establishing a ‘No Caribou Hunting Zone’ to reduce BNECH harvest in an area that has easy access by trails and all-terrain vehicles;
4. The establishment of an KHTO controlled enforcement system regarding BNECH harvest rates and zones, mandatory reporting, and harvest practices;
5. Creation of a program and looking for partners to create a predator management program to reduce predation pressure on the BNECH;
6. Continuing and improving education of KHTO members about caribou, respectful harvest practices, and alternate species to harvest; and
7. Increased effort to increase the fair quota to the KHTO regarding muskox in the Kugluktuk harvest area to relieve harvest pressure on the BNECH.

The submission outlines the basis for the KHTO's view that the GN Department of Environment did not adequately consult with them about their proposal for a TAH. Appended is a signed May 9, 2016 resolution opposing the GN's proposal for a TAH.