The Globe and Mail
KATHERINE HARDING
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070403.wxhunting03/BNStory/National/home
RESOLUTE BAY, NUNAVUT -- Even with the arrival of another polar bear hunting season, there is a lot more George Bush bashing than celebrating these days in Resolute Bay, a tiny Inuit community high above the Arctic Circle.
Inuit polar bear hunters and guides across the territory are worried that the U.S. administration may be getting ready to kill off this lucrative area of the sport-hunting industry.
Polar bear sport hunters, most of them Americans, inject an estimated $2.9-million into Nunavut's struggling economy, and remote and tiny communities such as Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord have grown to rely on the money.
The U.S. government is currently considering whether to list polar bears as a "threatened" species under its Endangered Species Act.
If the recommendation is adopted -- a decision is expected by the end of the year -- Inuit hunters and Nunavut government officials are concerned it would likely lead to a ban on the importation of polar bear trophies to the United States.
It is widely believed that the American big-game hunters, who often pay more than $20,000 (U.S.) for a polar bear hunt, wouldn't come if they couldn't take their expensive trophies back with them over the border.
"People down south are always upset about this. . . . Polar bears aren't cute. They are a nuisance. We've got so many of them around here," said Roger Salluviniq, a 31-year-old polar bear hunter and guide, from inside his snow-encrusted Resolute Bay home.
Mr. Salluviniq, a soft-spoken single father of three children 10, 8 and 6, earns about $7,000 for each sport hunt. He said these hunts are a chance for him to use his traditional skills while earning a living, since all non-Inuit hunters must be accompanied by a native guide.
Mr. Salluviniq, who also works at the 255-member community's power plant, began hunting and killing polar bears as a child. "When someone would go, I would follow. I learned the ways early," he said. "I love being out on the land."
Nunavut is home to a large number of the country's approximately 15,400 polar bears. About 60 per cent of the world's 22,000 to 25,000 polar bears are located in Northern Canada, including the three territories, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Labrador.
Martha Kalluk, Mr. Salluviniq's boss, said that their family-run outfitter business likely won't survive if the American hunters stop travelling to Resolute, about 600 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle.
"It would hurt us, that's for sure," said Mrs. Kalluk, who runs Nanuk Outfitting Ltd. along with her husband, Nathaniel.
Nearly all of the people who hire them to help guide a polar bear hunt are American. The couple charge $27,500 (U.S) for the experience, which helps pay for costs such as the guides, food and gas.
The Nunavut government sets an annual quota of how many polar bears can be killed; this year, it is 518. (Provinces and territories are responsible for deciding rules surrounding harvests. At least one, Manitoba, doesn't allow polar bear hunts).
Each community receives a certain number of permits from the territory, which are known as bear tags. It is then up to the community to decide how many of the tags will be given to traditional hunters and how many to sport hunters.
In Resolute Bay, on the southern shores of Cornwallis Island at the foot of the fabled Northwest Passage, 20 of its 35 tags are reserved for sport hunters. Traditional hunters who don't receive a tag are compensated, usually a couple of thousand dollars for not killing a bear.
Nunavut Environment Minister Patterk Netser has blasted the U.S. government's move to look at reclassifying the polar bear. He has blamed environmental-protection groups with feeding incorrect information to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about how climate change is affecting polar bear populations.
Many scientists and wildlife managers have argued that as sea ice continues to melt, the massive predators are losing access to their main habitat and food source - seals - and are more prone to starving.
Mr. Netser counters that there are "plenty of bears" in Nunavut and they aren't in trouble, saying that 11 of the territory's 12 polar bear populations are stable and increasing.
The population estimates, which ultimately help government officials decide annual kill quotas, are based largely on traditional Inuit knowledge, which some scientists consider controversial and unreliable.
Back in Resolute Bay, Mr. Salluviniq chuckled when asked about climate change and its possible effect on polar bears. "Does it look like climate change out there?" he said, as he pointed to his ice-covered window. The view is of -40 weather, high snow banks and a brewing spring blizzard.
However, Mr. Salluviniq conceded that weather conditions are slowly changing and making it harder to rely on traditional hunting practises such as navigating the sea ice by looking at which direction the snowdrifts are pointing. He's also not hopeful that polar bear hunts will go on forever. However, environmentalists and animal-protection groups aren't the only reason the end is near, Mr. Salluviniq added.
"Our problem is also our own people. . . . Everybody is watching too much TV and games," he said. "I'm trying to teach my kids to do it, so they won't lose it. But it's falling away slowly, along with our culture."
KATHERINE HARDING
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070403.wxhunting03/BNStory/National/home
RESOLUTE BAY, NUNAVUT -- Even with the arrival of another polar bear hunting season, there is a lot more George Bush bashing than celebrating these days in Resolute Bay, a tiny Inuit community high above the Arctic Circle.
Inuit polar bear hunters and guides across the territory are worried that the U.S. administration may be getting ready to kill off this lucrative area of the sport-hunting industry.
Polar bear sport hunters, most of them Americans, inject an estimated $2.9-million into Nunavut's struggling economy, and remote and tiny communities such as Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord have grown to rely on the money.
The U.S. government is currently considering whether to list polar bears as a "threatened" species under its Endangered Species Act.
If the recommendation is adopted -- a decision is expected by the end of the year -- Inuit hunters and Nunavut government officials are concerned it would likely lead to a ban on the importation of polar bear trophies to the United States.
It is widely believed that the American big-game hunters, who often pay more than $20,000 (U.S.) for a polar bear hunt, wouldn't come if they couldn't take their expensive trophies back with them over the border.
"People down south are always upset about this. . . . Polar bears aren't cute. They are a nuisance. We've got so many of them around here," said Roger Salluviniq, a 31-year-old polar bear hunter and guide, from inside his snow-encrusted Resolute Bay home.
Mr. Salluviniq, a soft-spoken single father of three children 10, 8 and 6, earns about $7,000 for each sport hunt. He said these hunts are a chance for him to use his traditional skills while earning a living, since all non-Inuit hunters must be accompanied by a native guide.
Mr. Salluviniq, who also works at the 255-member community's power plant, began hunting and killing polar bears as a child. "When someone would go, I would follow. I learned the ways early," he said. "I love being out on the land."
Nunavut is home to a large number of the country's approximately 15,400 polar bears. About 60 per cent of the world's 22,000 to 25,000 polar bears are located in Northern Canada, including the three territories, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Labrador.
Martha Kalluk, Mr. Salluviniq's boss, said that their family-run outfitter business likely won't survive if the American hunters stop travelling to Resolute, about 600 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle.
"It would hurt us, that's for sure," said Mrs. Kalluk, who runs Nanuk Outfitting Ltd. along with her husband, Nathaniel.
Nearly all of the people who hire them to help guide a polar bear hunt are American. The couple charge $27,500 (U.S) for the experience, which helps pay for costs such as the guides, food and gas.
The Nunavut government sets an annual quota of how many polar bears can be killed; this year, it is 518. (Provinces and territories are responsible for deciding rules surrounding harvests. At least one, Manitoba, doesn't allow polar bear hunts).
Each community receives a certain number of permits from the territory, which are known as bear tags. It is then up to the community to decide how many of the tags will be given to traditional hunters and how many to sport hunters.
In Resolute Bay, on the southern shores of Cornwallis Island at the foot of the fabled Northwest Passage, 20 of its 35 tags are reserved for sport hunters. Traditional hunters who don't receive a tag are compensated, usually a couple of thousand dollars for not killing a bear.
Nunavut Environment Minister Patterk Netser has blasted the U.S. government's move to look at reclassifying the polar bear. He has blamed environmental-protection groups with feeding incorrect information to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about how climate change is affecting polar bear populations.
Many scientists and wildlife managers have argued that as sea ice continues to melt, the massive predators are losing access to their main habitat and food source - seals - and are more prone to starving.
Mr. Netser counters that there are "plenty of bears" in Nunavut and they aren't in trouble, saying that 11 of the territory's 12 polar bear populations are stable and increasing.
The population estimates, which ultimately help government officials decide annual kill quotas, are based largely on traditional Inuit knowledge, which some scientists consider controversial and unreliable.
Back in Resolute Bay, Mr. Salluviniq chuckled when asked about climate change and its possible effect on polar bears. "Does it look like climate change out there?" he said, as he pointed to his ice-covered window. The view is of -40 weather, high snow banks and a brewing spring blizzard.
However, Mr. Salluviniq conceded that weather conditions are slowly changing and making it harder to rely on traditional hunting practises such as navigating the sea ice by looking at which direction the snowdrifts are pointing. He's also not hopeful that polar bear hunts will go on forever. However, environmentalists and animal-protection groups aren't the only reason the end is near, Mr. Salluviniq added.
"Our problem is also our own people. . . . Everybody is watching too much TV and games," he said. "I'm trying to teach my kids to do it, so they won't lose it. But it's falling away slowly, along with our culture."
