Walruses and the walrus hunt in West and Northwest Greenland: An interview survey about the catch and the climate
Authors: Born Erik W. , Heilmann Anna , Holm Lene Kielsen , Laidre Kristin L. , Iversen Maria 
Published: October 2024

The catch of Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) is an important element of the traditional marine hunting culture of West and Northwest Greenland where walruses have been caught for subsistence for millennia. However, quotas were only introduced in 2006 for the take of walruses in Greenland. Since the early 1990s the sea ice cover has decreased markedly on the walrus hunting grounds in West and Northwest Greenland. These changes have presented new circumstances for hunters who still rely upon the catch of walruses. In Greenland there is a tradition for collecting Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) systematically and integrating LEK in the authorities’ decisions on management of marine mammals. This study summarizes a LEK interview survey conducted in 2010 among experienced walrus hunters in West and Northwest Greenland.
The main purpose was to systematically collect information on how the hunters had been affected by (1) introduction of walrus quotas, and (2) if the hunters had observed any effects on walruses from the decrease in sea ice. Information was also collected about hunting strategies, numbers and sex and age categories of walruses caught, hunting methods and “struck-but-lost”, and many aspects of the general biology of walruses.
A total of 76 experienced walrus hunters living in the “walrus hunting areas” between Maniitsoq (65° 25’ N) in Central W Greenland and Siorapaluk (77° 47’ N) in NW Greenland were asked 50 questions during standardized (“directed”) interviews (two informants were interviewed together on the same occasion resulting in a total of 75 interviews). The results of this study demonstrate that the walrus is still an important species in the subsistence hunting culture in W and in particular NW Greenland (the Qaanaaq area). Edible walrus products are consumed by humans, and in the case of NW Greenland, are also important food for sled dogs.
Products like meat, skin, and tusks are sold on local markets but are also shared among kin and relatives, thereby maintaining a traditional sharing culture. According to the interviewees, the catch of walruses decreased markedly after the introduction of quotas in 2006. However, analyses of walrus catches recorded in the official catch statistics showed a gradual decrease in the catch in all areas since the early 1990s, indicating that other mechanisms have influenced the trend in catches. The interviews indicate that a number of factors have contributed to the decrease in the catch of walrus.
These include (1) the introduction of a quota on walrus (and also quotas for beluga, Delphinapterus leucas, narwhal, Monodon monoceros, and polar bear, Ursus maritimus, in those cases where hunting trips are mainly targeting these species with walrus as a “secondary” species), (2) decrease in market demands for walrus products nationally and internationally, (3) a general decrease in number of full-time-hunters, (4) a general shift to alternative and more profitable sources of income (fishery and various wage earning jobs), and (5) climate changes resulting in walruses spending less time on the traditional hunting grounds and bad ice and weather conditions influencing the ability to access the walruses.
Information from the informants on the number of walrus landed, or lost, in 2008 and 2009 was used to derive an estimate of a “struck-but-lost” ratio of 4.6% (i.e. 4.6% of all walruses struck were not retrieved) with some variation among areas. We caution that in several cases the numbers reported by individual hunters for 2008 and 2009 were uncertain. However, given the types of hunting methods used during the “open water hunt”, an estimate of loss of <5% seems implausibly low. Climate change (including decreasing sea ice habitat and unpredictable weather conditions) was reported for all areas.
A general shift in walrus distribution to the west (i.e. at the edge of the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait pack ice) has made the walruses occur farther offshore on their foraging banks. Furthermore, due to later formation of sea ice and earlier spring break-up, the walruses in W and NW Greenland now immigrate later in fall and emigrate earlier in spring and are therefore available for a shorter period of time in the hunting areas.
Changes in ice and weather conditions have made hunting walruses more difficult and are, according to the informants, responsible for an overall decrease in hunting pressure and have therefore led to an increase in walrus abundance. The study confirmed that the principal food for walruses in N and NW Greenland are bivalve molluscs, but it did not result in information specific enough to determine if there has been any climate induced shift in benthic biodiversity and/or walrus food preferences. Overall, the study confirmed that systematically collected LEK can provide valuable information on hunting animals and their exploitation.