On the other hand, you have the government that requires facts and studies. The Iqaluit's paltry allotment of 18 polar bears is becoming harder and harder to share among its growing population. Members will consider whether to take back the Iqaluit outpost camp allocation of four bears for use by the general membership. The AGM will also be asked to support transferring the two bears now reserved for a summer hunt to a sports hunt. While it's doubtful that Iqaluit will solve its bear shortage by receiving a higher quota, the Nunavut government does plan to pay more attention to local traditional knowledge about polar bears.
Communities are also likely to take on a more active role in management.
This year, Arctic Bay, Pond Inlet, Broughton Island and Repulse Bay began managing narwhal stocks by themselves as part of a three-year trial. We're not the big, bad guys. Nunavut wants to steer away from the kinds of strong-arm methods used in some African countries to protect endangered wildlife such as rhinoceros or elephants. But the conservation of polar bear populations will still be bottom line of any new polar bear management scheme in Nunavut. That's what depleted the formerly rich Atlantic fishing stocks, says Atkinson, who favours the sustainable co-management of polar bears.