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Barren-ground
Caribou
Management
The number of animals
in a caribou herd naturally fluctuates over time.
In the past, when caribou numbers declined, people starved unless
they were able to meet their needs with other species.
Caribou numbers will continue to fluctuate and not all herds will
always be large enough to meet people's needs.
Even though people will no longer starve when there is a shortage
of caribou, declines will still bring economic and social hardships.
The goal of caribou management is to manage human activities such
that these activities do not cause herds to decline to the point where
people do not have enough caribou or the
herds are unable to recover from natural declines.
In 2000, the
Bathurst Caribou Management Planning
Committee was formed to address issues facing the Bathurst herd. Co-management processes
have been established to provide input into how to manage human activities
that affect caribou and their habitat.
Each of the larger barren-ground caribou herds has a slightly
different co-management process, but all have similar intentions.
Using traditional knowledge and technical information, Aboriginal
and government representatives work together to advise governments on
management decisions affecting caribou.
For more information
on each of the co-management boards:
Gwich’in Renewable
Resources Board
Sahtu
Renewable Resources Board
Wek' èezhìi Board
Wildlife
Management Advisory Council (NWT)
Beverly
and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board
Porcupine Caribou Management Board
In 2006 the Government of the Northwest Territories released a
strategy
to guide caribou management over the next four years
A management plan for the Bathurst caribou herd has also been developed. Interest
in the Bathurst caribou herd grew in the 1990s with a surge in mining
activities on the herd’s annual ranges. Since then, two diamond mines
have been built on spring migration and post calving/summer ranges and a
third diamond mine is under construction. The diamond mining companies
monitor caribou abundance and behavior in the vicinity of the diamond
mines, however uncertainties remain about the cumulative effects of the
mines on the caribou.
Knowledge
of caribou numbers is essential for management, but exact counts are
neither possible nor necessary. For the larger herds, estimates of the
number of pregnant cows on the calving ground can be used to determine
whether a herd is stable, declining or increasing. However, calving ground
estimates provide only a crude approximation of total herd size, as bulls
do not migrate onto the calving grounds. A variety of methods are used to
survey the herds, with each technique designed to fit the unique
characteristics of the herd. Most surveys use aerial photography either
during or after calving.
There are few
restrictions on caribou hunting by Aboriginal people for their own use,
but there are limits on the number of caribou from each herd that can be
harvested for commercial sale.
Resident hunters are allowed to hunt
two caribou, male only, each year.
Non-resident hunters may harvest a maximum of two
barren-ground caribou and require a licensed outfitter.
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