A. Species
Scientific name: Ursus maritimus
Common name(s): Polar bear
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Vulnerable
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Nunavut
Country/Region: Canada / Nunavut Territory
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State
Name/Details of location: Four communities in the Qikiqtaaon (Baffin) region of the territory: Qikiqtarjuaq, Clyde River, Pond Inlet and Igloolik
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2000
End Year: 2004
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, Collection/display, Ceremony and ritual expression, Decorative and aesthetic and Materials and construction
Motivation of use: Basic subsistence, Income generation from trade (individual/household/community), Largescale commercial exploitation for trade, Recreational, Traditional/Cultural/Spiritual and Population/Area Management
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, National / local government and International external
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 sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: Nunavut controls its polar bear harvest through a quota system, whereby a total allowable harvest is calculated using scientific and traditional knowledge for each of 12 polar bear populations (out of 19 total world populations). Each Nunavut community Hunters’ and Trappers’ Organization (HTO) decides whether to hold conservation hunts and how to disburse the quota of animals that can be taken.
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Records from the PBTC show that the Nunavut offtake of around 400 polar bears per year is repeatable each year with similar hunting effort, indicating sustainability. The Polar Bear Technical Committee or PBTC supports the Polar Bear Administrative Committee (PBAC) by reviewing scientific research and Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and providing the PBAC with an annual status assessment of the polar bear subpopulations in Canada . PBTC was established by the members of PBAC in 1970, and includes representatives from each jurisdiction where polar bears are found (Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Québec and the Yukon). Representatives include provincial and territorial government scientists, experts from within Indigenous user groups, Wildlife Management Boards and ex-officio members from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Geological Society, the North Slope Borough and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, whom Canada works with in managing shared populations.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic 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: Each polar bear sport hunt is worth approximately $19,000 CAN to a Northern community. The total value in 2005 (110 sport hunts) was approximately $2,090,000. The potential annual value, if all hunts were sport hunts (using the average harvest from 2000 to 2004 of 432) would be $8,208,000. The report places this value in context: "Canadian federal transfers to the territory exceed $900 million/year, which is calculated at over $30,000 per territorial resident (Department of Finance, Government of Canada, 2007).
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social 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: Each polar bear sport hunt is worth approximately $19,000 CAN to a Northern community. The total value in 2005 (110 sport hunts) was approximately $2,090,000. The potential annual value, if all hunts were sport hunts (using the average harvest from 2000 to 2004 of 432) would be $8,208,000. The report places this value in context: "Canadian federal transfers to the territory exceed $900 million/year, which is calculated at over $30,000 per territorial resident (Department of Finance, Government of Canada, 2007).
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: No, sustainability not determined
Details of assessment carried out: study does not analyse this
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: study does not analyse this
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare 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: The Polar Bear Technical Committee or PBTC supports the Polar Bear Administrative Committee (PBAC) by reviewing scientific research and Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and providing the PBAC with an annual status assessment of the polar bear subpopulations in Canada . PBTC was established by the members of PBAC in 1970, and includes representatives from each jurisdiction where polar bears are found (Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Québec and the Yukon). Representatives include provincial and territorial government scientists, experts from within Indigenous user groups, Wildlife Management Boards and ex-officio members from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Geological Society, the North Slope Borough and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, whom Canada works with in managing shared populations.
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
The study reports that Climate change has been observed to reduce the population parameters of only 2 of the 19 polar bear populations in the world Should international concerns about possible climate change impacts result in the closure of international trade in polar bear trophies or skins, Nunavut communities risk considerable financial losses, but polar bears would not be better off. Canada’s commitment to continue scientific monitoring and to allow harvesting at sustainable levels would result in hunting moratoriums only on those populations that could not support a hunt. Sustainable hunting would continue in other populations, but with a much reduced market, and the economic value of the species would be reduced.
Record source
Information about the record source: scientific_pub
Date of publication/issue/production: 2009-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
DOI: 10.1080/14724040802696049
Date of record entry: 2022-11-11