Mr. Antoine to the Minister of Renewable Resources concerning the monitoring of big game hunting outfitter quotas:

Monitoring Big Game Harvests

Quotas are one option for controlling harvesting. Other options include establishing hunting seasons, restricting the type of animal that may be hunted, such as male Dall sheep with a minimum horn size and restricting the number of animals a hunter may kill.

Quotas are established through wildlife regulations after consultation with various user and management groups. The size of a quota is based on information such as population size, traditional harvest levels and local knowledge and is set within the limits of sustainability.

Where quotas exist, hunters can only kill an animal if they have obtained the appropriate wildlife tag. These tags are issued by licensed dealers or through the Renewable Resource offices.

Barren-ground caribou are the only species for which quotas have been assigned to big game outfitters.

Quotas are monitored through hunter questionnaires, kill sheets and export permit records. For some species, specimens are also required from the harvested animals to allow the department to monitor specific attributes of the animals as part of the sustainable harvest monitoring. Polar bears, muskox, barren-ground grizzly and wood bison are species where harvest under quota is intensively monitored. Barren-ground caribou harvested under outfitter quotas are also monitored by the means listed above.

Where quotas are not established for a big game wildlife population, the harvest is monitored to ensure that the population numbers and productivity are not declining. Monitoring takes various forms and includes such things as sampling of harvested animals, field observations and patrols, outfitter and hunter reports and tracking of licenses and permits.

An example would be in the Mackenzie Mountains where quotas are not established however, other restrictions exist. These include no harvesting of mountain grizzly and only one of each species of Dall sheep, woodland caribou, moose, mountain goat, black bear, wolf and wolverine may be taken. In the case of Dall sheep, harvest levels have been monitored since 1965. The horns are also photographed and plugged and measured for identification; the measurements show that the majority of rams taken are mature males. Harvest levels have remained virtually unchanged for the past decade.

Outfitter Licenses

There are three classes of big game outfitting licenses: A, B and C. In some cases, the area in which an outfitter is allowed to operate is restricted to wildlife management areas, and in other cases, such as for class A outfitters, to a defined area.

There are eight holders of class A outfitter licenses. All operate in the Mackenzie Mountains in what is designated as wildlife management zone E/1 covering parts of the Sahtu and Fort Simpson regions. These are exclusive areas designated by regulation and are available to individuals, corporations or community organizations.

Class B outfitters may provide services to non-resident hunters for barren ground caribou, wolf, wolverine, barren ground grizzly bear, black bear and wood bison. Five class B outfitter licenses are currently issued to NWT residents and resident corporations who are not HTAs or bands. Other types of outfitting licenses designated as class B are only available to community HTAs or bands for outfitting hunts within their traditional hunting areas.

Class C outfitter licenses are available only to HTAs to outfit hunting in their traditional hunting areas for polar bear and muskox.

All classes of licenses are issued annually and are subject to a yearly departmental review to ensure compliance with wildlife legislation.

When an outfitter (other than an HTA or band) decides to relinquish a license, the Department of Renewable Resources advises the license holder to notify community organizations of their intent to sell their assets, and advertise in territorial newspapers. The sale of the assets is ultimately a business decision between the buyer and seller, but the department reserves the right to review the suitability and competency of any potential purchaser. The department reviews all applications for a license, including past experience as an outfitter as well as ability to conduct an outfitting business in a manner that reflects positively on the NWT outfitting industry.

Licenses held by community organizations cannot be sold, although they are allowed to joint venture as long as the controlling interest remains with the community organization.