December 13 th, 2016 Honourable Perry Trimper Minister of Environment of Conservation Government of Newfoundland and Labrador P.O. Box 8700 St. John s, NL, Canada A1B 4J6 Re: Polar Bear Total Allowable Harvest in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area 2017 Dear Minister Trimper, On behalf of the Torngat Wildlife and Plants Co-Management Board I am pleased to write regarding the 2017 Total Allowable Harvest (TAH) of Polar Bear in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area. The Board is fully engaged in Polar Bear management locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. At all levels, the Board continues to maintain its interest in the sustainable utilization of the Davis Strait management unit. Last season, the Board decided on a carryover of one unused polar bear licence from 2015 to 2016 for a TAH of 13. The Board has reviewed its decision for 2016, and has considered (a) its commitment to inter-jurisdictional processes, (b) its participation in the planning of new population survey in 2017, and (c) the Nunatsiavut Government s recommendation to not vary the TAH. Given these considerations, the Board has decided to maintain the TAH of 12. The Board will take an adaptive co-management approach to its decision, and will review it after the 2017 hunting season. I hope this annual correspondence will be part of a continuing dialogue about Polar Bear management in Nunatsiavut. As always, the Board remains available to meet with you and your officials to strengthen the decision process. Yours truly Ron Sparkes, Ed.D Chairperson Torngat Wildlife and Plants Co-Management Board
Polar Bear Total Allowable Harvest in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area 2017 Decision: Pursuant to Part 12.9.1 (a) of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement, the Torngat Wildlife and Plants Co-Management Board has decided to: Maintain the Total Allowable Harvest (TAH) of Polar Bear at 12 for the 2017 hunting season within the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area. 1.0 Background: The Torngat Wildlife and Plants Co-Management Board (TWPCB or the Board ) is empowered by Part 12.9.1(a) of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement (LILCA) to establish, modify, or eliminate Total Allowable Harvests (TAH) for non-migratory wildlife. On January 25, 2010, the TWPCB submitted its decision to increase the TAH to 12 bears from 6, as per 12.9.1(a), 12.9.4, and 12.1.1 of the LILCA. In a letter dated March 12, 2010, the Minister of the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Environment and Conservation disallowed the decision of the TWPCB, citing Parts 12.9.4 and 12.9.5 of the LILCA, as well as Sections 39 and 114 of the Wild Life Regulations and the annual Polar Bear Hunting Order. On December 21, 2010, the TWPCB submitted a more thorough analysis to the Minister of Environment and Conservation, and reaffirmed its decision to establish a TAH of 12 polar bears in Nunatsiavut. The decision was rejected, and a flexible quota system was implemented, bringing the 2011 TAH to 11. On November 23, 2011, the TWPCB submitted its decision to establish a TAH of 12 Polar Bears in Nunatsiavut: the Minister accepted the Board decision in a letter dated January 23, 2012. The TAH for Polar Bears in Nunatsiavut has since remained at 12. For the 2016 season, the TWPCB maintained the TAH of 12 bears, with a carry forward of one unused license from the 2015 season. This allowed a TAH of 13 bears for 2016. Polar Bears harvested in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area (LISA) belong to the Davis Strait management unit, which is shared between Nunatsiavut, Nunavik, and Nunavut. Together, the three jurisdictions share responsibility for the management of this subpopulation. The population s range additionally extends to Greenland, adding an international management aspect. In 2015, resource users wrote requesting that the TWPCB, the Nunavik Marine Region Wildlife Management Board (NMRWMB), and the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board (NMWB) develop a Joint Hearing Process to establish a shared management objective and a TAH for the entire Davis Strait subpopulation. The TWPCB and the NMRWB have been engaged in coordination of a Joint Hearing Process will occur in January 2017.
2.0 Key Considerations: 2.1. Management Objectives: There is no shared management objective for the Davis Strait subpopulation. The Government of Nunavut has explicitly stated their management objective to decrease the subpopulation from 2,158 to 1,600. Their argument to do so is three-fold: 1. Polar bear abundance has exceeded social tolerance for negative human-bear interactions. 2. Density effects are negatively affecting body condition, reproduction, and survival. 3. Current abundance is having a negative effect on bird colonies and seal populations. Neither the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Nunatsiavut Government, nor the TWPCB have presented an objective. 2.2. Management Principles: Part 12.2.1 of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement provides some guidance: Conservation and the use of the Precautionary Approach are priorities in decisionmaking that relates to or directly affects Wildlife, Plants or Habitat in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area. Conservation is defined as management of Wildlife, Plants and Habitat, including the management of human activities in relation to them, to foster Sustainable Utilization and maintenance of natural populations, biodiversity and ecological processes. Precautionary Approach means that, if there are threats of serious or irreversible damage to Wildlife or Plants, measures to prevent the reduction or loss of the Wildlife or Plants should not be postponed for lack of full scientific certainty. 2.3. Management Values: The Torngat Wildlife, Plants and Fisheries Secretariat Strategic Plan, adopted in June of 2013, references several relevant values: o Objectivity o Interconnectedness o Holistic Approach o Precaution o Food-security Polar Bear have been listed as the number two priority species for enhancing knowledge with in the Strategic Plan.
2.4. Survey Information: The Davis Strait subpopulation was estimated at 2,158 in 2007, with a 95% Confidence Interval of 1,798-2,518 (Peacock et al., 2012). There has been no estimation of population size or trend since 2007. The Board is involved with the planning of an aerial survey for the Davis Strait management unit in the 2017-2018 fiscal year. 2.5. Polar Bear Administrative Committee Status, Historical Trend, and Predicted Trend: The Davis Strait management unit is listed as: o Status: Likely Increased o TEK Assessment: Increased o Recent Trend: Likely Increase o Future Trend: Likely Decline Other: Population growth rate has declined, recruitment is low, and survival of young adults is low and has declined. These observed trends have been hypothesized to be attributable to habitat decline and density effects (Peacock et al., 2012; Rode et al., 2012). 2.6. Harvest Information: Davis Strait Polar Bear removals have declined in recent years (Figure 1). The Nunatsiavut Government harvested 8% of the Polar Bears taken from the Davis Strait management unit in 2016. In 2016, the Nunatsiavut Government harvested 12 of a TAH of 13, Nunavut harvested 32 of a TAH of 56 within the Nunavut Settlement Area, and 9 bears were harvested in the Nunavik Marine Region (NMR). It should be noted that in Nunavik, there is no TAH mechanism in place, and there is no mandatory requirement for Nunavik Inuit to register their polar bear harvests and thus these figures represent, at best, a minimum. Additionally, Greenland has a TAH of 4 Polar Bears for the Davis Strait management unit, for a total maximal removal of 82 for 2015/2016.
Number of Individuals Actual Harvest 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 LISA NMR NSA Figure 1 Total number of Polar Bears removed from the Davis Strait Management Unit from 2011/12 to 2015/16. Data is limited to the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area (LISA; blue bars), Nunavik Marine Region (NMR; red bars), and Nunavut Settlement Area (NSA; green bars). 2.7. Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK): TEK on Labrador polar bears collected from Inuit and is summarized in the Labrador Polar Bear Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Final Report (York et al., 2015). The majority of participants (79%) reported the number of bears is increasing, as is their range. Polar bears were reported to enter human-inhabited areas more frequently, such as cabin area, and bears have been observed farther inland. Participants also believed that bears would successfully adapt to changes in their environment. 2.8. National and International Context: It was expected that the United States would propose the Polar Bear for up-listing to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Appendix I in 2016. If up-listed, the international trade of Polar Bear products would be eliminated. However, the United States did not sponsor an up-listing proposal. This was attributed to extensive education and advocacy from the Inuit of Canada and the Canadian Government. 2.9. Consultation and Meetings: The Board met on October 12-13 th, 2016 in Nain, Nunatsiavut and made a consensus decision for Polar Bear TAH for 2017/18.
The Board consulted with the Nunatsiavut Government on October 4 th, 2016, as per section 12.9.10 of LILCA, to discuss the TAH for Polar Bear in 2017. The Nunatsiavut Government recommends that 12 licenses be available within the LISA. 3.0 Current Status The Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Environment and Climate Change s Wildlife Division is drafting an update to the Polar Bear Management Plan in cooperation with the Nunatsiavut Government and the TWPCB. 4.0 Summary and Conclusion: The Board has fully considered the management principles entrenched in the LILCA, the Nunatsiavut Government s recommendation to maintain the TAH of 12, and the upcoming Polar Bear aerial survey, and has decided to not vary the TAH for 2017. Therefore, the TWPCB has decided to maintain the TAH of 12 polar bear within the LISA for 2017.
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