A. Species
Scientific name: Alces alces
Common name(s): Moose
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Least Concern
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Alberta
- British Columbia
Country/Region: Canada / Alberta & British Columbia
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State
Name/Details of location: 13 First Nation communities in the Peace River region of British Columbia (N=3) and Alberta (N=10). The Peace River basin lies in the heart of the Treaty 8 territory and is the territorial home of the Dene-Zaa, Woodland Cree, and Sekani peoples.
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2016
End Year: 2019
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Type of use: Extractive
Practice of use: Hunting and/or Trapping of live terrestrial and aerial animals
Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism
Purpose(s) of end use: Food and feed, Ceremony and ritual expression and Decorative and aesthetic
Motivation of use: Basic subsistence and Traditional/Cultural/Spiritual
Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: According to surveys conducted by the British Columbia Government 2019 and Alberta Government 2020 the moose population in the Peace River region has exhibited an episodic and downward trend since the 1990s.
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The study's starting position is that since the 1990s, the moose population in the Peace River region of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, has exhibited an episodic and downward trend (according to the British Columbia Government 2019; Alberta Government 2020). This decline is attributed to several factors including disease, predation, loss of habitat, and climate change. While acknowledging that the Peace River region’s moose population is affected by a host of non-anthropogenic disturbances, some government wildlife managers and members of the hunting public have voiced concern that ‘unregulated’ hunting by First Nations is having a detrimental impact on the region’s moose population by reducing it to below sustainable harvest levels and by altering population characteristics. These concerns have prompted public calls for the enactment of conservation measures that would include restrictions on First Nations hunting.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Sport hunting moose (which is a lucrative industry), leaves insufficient natural resource to also support traditional hunting (the topic here); combined this hunting pressure is unsustainable.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The harvest and sharing of moose by First Nations is increasingly being strained by the impacts of sport hunting, both in terms of the numbers of moose being harvested (1422) and increased competition (3672 licensed hunters). The immediate impacts are the reduced number of moose available to First Nation households and the associated strain placed on household food systems. First Nation leaders are calling upon provincial governments to engage with them directly in a form of collaborative conservation in order to ensure future policies are based on data and not public accusations that may be economically, politically, or racially motivated. With less sport hunting, this traditional indigenous use may still be sustainable.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Consumption of moose is a traditional indigenous practice that is considered sustainable at the subsistence level.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Not recorded
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
The study concludes that First Nations are entering into various forms of collaboration with provincial and territorial governments (e.g., co-management, cooperative management) to arrive at more efficient and equitable ways of managing access to moose populations. While operating along a continuum of authority, these types of crisis-based collaborations have created an institutional space that is affording First Nations a greater say in wildlife management. First Nations are cautiously hopeful that collaboration with provincial governments can facilitate interaction in ways that to date do not exist. Despite the risks involved, First Nations are highly committed to reversing the downward trend that has been occurring in the Peace River region’s moose population. If successful, collaboration between First Nation and provincial governments may prove effective at protecting a vital cultural keystone resource and may even serve as an institutional basis for responding to future conservation concerns that protect, rather than restrict, First Nation subsistence rights
Record source
Information about the record source: scientific_pub
Date of publication/issue/production: 2021-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
Date of record entry: 2022-12-12