Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is no quota on Dall Sheep in the Mackenzie Mountains. This is the only place in Canada and the United States where there is no limit on how many sheep are hunted by big game hunters. There is no way to monitor the sheep, except from the outfitters
themselves. This is what we are told. We have to believe what the outfitters tell us. An outfitter could book 100 hunters in one zone, and they could take 100 sheep out there and there is no real control. This is the concern that I've heard from different people in my constituency; the problem of overhunting the sheep in the Mackenzie Mountain ranges.
There is a real danger for overhunting in the big game hunting zones. This could be detrimental to the animal population in the mountains, west of the communities I represent. This is a traditional area of a lot of the Dene people. An outfitter could hunt an area hard for a few years, then sell out the area for enormous profits. These zones have become assets to the people who are the outfitters.
There are four types of big horn sheep in North America, and the Dall Sheep is one of them. The others are very well controlled, I'm told. For example, in British Columbia, each area is regulated by quotas. The local biologist determines how many sheep could be taken out of an area; lot's say, eight or 12 out of a hunting zone. This is the quota for one hunting area and it is very well controlled.
Mr. Speaker, in order to determine quotas we need to survey and count the animals in the mountains, especially the sheep, on an annual basis. The government will say there's no money, so I would like to make one suggestion, Mr. Speaker: let us place a higher fee on each of the non-resident hunters who come into our area so they could pay for the survey and counting of these animals. For example, in order to pay for the survey, let's say $1,000 per tag for each non-resident hunter. This is a request for support in this area, Mr. Speaker.
Another problem I have is that there is a request by big game hunters for grizzly bear tags now. Here again, I have to oppose this because I need to know the status of the population in the Mackenzie mountains of the grizzly bears before I approve anything like this.
Mr. Speaker, my time has run out. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Mahsi.