A management plan for Dolphin and Union Caribou herd, listed as species of special concern in the Northwest Territories, is underway as the NWT's Conference of Management Authority reached consensus on implementing the agreement with co-management groups.
photo courtesy of Mathieu Dumond
The implementation agreement governs how the Wildlife Management Advisory Council and Government of the Northwest Territories must manage the herd with its partners.
Dolphin and Union Caribou summer on Victoria Island and winter on the mainland. They are named after the straits which they cross twice a year when they travel North in their spring migration and south in the fall. The herd gathers in numbers along the shoreline, waiting for sea ice to be thick enough to cross. The sea crossing is one of the herds top vulnerabilities: accidental drowning.
Most of their annual range lies within Nunavut, but spreads into the NWT. The herd is subject to both federal and NWT species at risk legislation as well as NunavutSA国际影视传媒檚 Wildlife Act, said Brett Elkin director of wildlife for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The GNWT is co-managing the herd with the Wildlife Management Advisory Council, the Inuvialuit Game Council and two communities within the range: Paultauk and Ulukhaktok.
Dolphin and Union Caribou were at SA国际影视传媒渧ery lowSA国际影视传媒� numbers during the mid-20th century and only started to recover 30 years ago, said Elkin.
Population estimates from 1997 numbered the heard at more than 30,000 animals. It has declined to roughly half that size as of 2015.
The management plan is a SA国际影视传媒減ositive signSA国际影视传媒� of collaboration across jurisdictions, said Elkin.
While as of March 2015 the species is listed in the NWT as being of SA国际影视传媒渟pecial concernSA国际影视传媒�, management groups have a responsibility to monitor and manage the herd, he said.
SA国际影视传媒淚t doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 mean you donSA国际影视传媒檛 have to be cautious,SA国际影视传媒� said Elkin.
He added that the management plan SA国际影视传媒渢ells us there is a species we need to watch and take management actions to make sure it doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 fall into one of those more serious categories.SA国际影视传媒�
The herd will be subject to another count this winter.
Climate change is a potential threat to the species because of its biannual crossing. Freeze and thaw cycles can make it difficult for the herd to access vegetation, he said.
It is also vulnerable to predation and hunting.
While only a portion of the range falls within the NWT, the GNWT is committed to research and monitoring to study factors affecting the herd.
The GNWT is also responsible for environmental assessment and land use if there were to be development on the NWT portion of the range of the Dolphin and Union herd.
SA国际影视传媒淭his is a species that could become at risk so we need to make sure research and monitoring and management is good so that we donSA国际影视传媒檛 find ourselves in that place,SA国际影视传媒� said Elkin. SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檝e taken the approach that we want everyone at the table.SA国际影视传媒�
The Government of Nunavut and the GNWT jointly prepared a management plan alongside the federal government and co-management partners including Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organization (HTO), Ekaluktutiak HTO, Omingmaktok HTO, Burnside HTO, NWT Wildlife Management Advisory Council, Inuvialuit Game Council, Ulukhaktok Hunters and Trappers Committee, and the Paulatuk Hunters and Trappers Committee.
The final management plan adheres to co-management processes legislated under the Inuvialuit Final Agreement and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.
The agreement does not have provisions for automatic protections for species or habitat, but implementation will be reviewed and reported on every five years.
