Editor’s Note: The following is a condensed version of testimony presented by the Honorable Patterk Netser, Minister of Environment, Government of Nunavut, on the proposed listing of polar bears on the Endangered Species Act. The hearing was held in Washington, D.C. in March.
As the Minister of Environment for the Government of Nunavut and a hunter who grew up in Coral Harbour, Nunavut, Canada, I am not denying that the warming trend observed over the last 15 years has affected the arctic. What I am questioning is how much impact this has had on polar bears.
Nunavut has or shares most of the polar bear populations in the world, and most of our populations are abundant, productive and sustaining the current managed harvest levels. This is based on the current scientific information as well as the current Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (or traditional ecological knowledge). This perspective is entirely different than the somewhat hysterical message that has been spread across the media in recent months.
Declaring polar bears to be a threatened species is not only premature and inconsistent with the Endangered Species Act criteria, but it will also hurt hunters and work against the conservation of polar bears.
Of the 12 populations that are within or shared with Nunavut, only one (Western Hudson Bay) has been identified as having been reduced by the effects of climate change and other factors. The study that provided this result was one that did not search the entire summer-retreat area used by this population in open water season. In 2006, the Canadian Polar Bear Technical Committee agreed the area missed needed to be surveyed before the results could be accepted as final.
Inuit hunters in this area have reported significant numbers of polar bears in the areas not searched. According to the scientific study, the population has only been reduced by about 250 individuals. Is the reduction due to population decline or to a shift in distribution? A new survey is planned for autumn 2007 to answer that question.
There is no information suggesting Nunavut’s other populations have been reduced by climate change or reductions in sea ice. An ongoing study of the Davis Strait population indicates a dramatic increase in numbers over the past 25 years, and continuing high densities of polar bears in one of the most southern populations.
The worst-case climate modeling scenario shows summer ice remaining in Canada’s Archipelago and winter sea ice for most of the current range of polar bears. Even if the Hudson Bay population disappeared, there would still be more than half of the world’s polar bears inhabiting areas that are not predicted to go ice free in the summer, under worst-case projections.
The decline in the Western Hudson Bay population can be arrested and reversed by reducing harvesting until conditions improve, and this is under consideration. Our harvesting issues are addressed by co-management processes that ensure our wildlife regulations are supported by our hunters.
A recent status report provided by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Polar Bear Specialists Group says Nunavut has or shares 12 of 19 polar bear populations numbering about 15,000 of the world total of about 23,000.
The worst-case scenario IPCC projections for reductions in ice cover still show summer ice in Canada’s arctic Archipelago and winter sea ice for most of the current range of polar bears within their 50 year projections. The time frame for ESA status determination is three generations — which for polar bears is about 45 years.
The truth is, polar bears have never been more abundant in Nunavut. This is partly due to our progressive management system that is supported by Inuit harvesters who are the main beneficiaries of polar bear harvesting and are actively involved in research and management initiatives.
Some reports have circulated that hunters have been fooled by changes in polar bear behavior, which is causing the bears to visit communities more frequently because they are starving. This suggests hunters are easily misled by local conditions, and ignores that hunters range widely over all areas of both onshore summer retreats and the sea ice. That they can be so easily misled shows a disturbing lack of respect for indigenous knowledge.
The status of polar bears should depend on how polar bears are doing, and not be based on the need for a “poster species” for a good cause. Polar bears may be an icon to some southern activists, but they are a part of our Inuit culture and our northern traditional economy.
We are not saying that the legislation proposing the listing should not be respected and applied. We are saying just the opposite. We are asking that the law be applied fairly and that the status of polar bears is based on all of the information available, not just the information that supports listing.
Please don’t be intimidated into a premature decision that would have few or no positive implications for polar bear conservation, but would harm the livelihood of the Inuit.
