In a dramatic reversal of position, the Coordinating Committee on Hunting, Trapping and Fishing has decided Quebec should ban sport hunting of moose by non-Natives in the southern James Bay Territory.
After years of efforts by Crees, the committee agreed in a resolution in June that non-Natives should be barred from hunting moose in Zone 17, which covers Waswanipi traplines. In exchange, Cree representatives agreed to a Cree harvest of only one moose per trapline in Zone 17.
In the past, Quebec refused to ban sport hunting, saying Crees should be treated the same as non-Natives. Quebec also wanted to wait for the results of an aerial survey of the moose population planned for 1996.
Crees pointed out that the James Bay Agreement guarantees a minimum harvest of moose and gives Crees priority over sport hunters. The resolution says the ban should be enforced this hunting season.
Ginette Lajoie, an environmental analyst with the Grand Council, said more government inaction could prove disastrous. “This is a crisis situation for the moose population of Zone 17. We need to act appropriately and immediately.”
Aerial surveys done in 1989 and 1991 showed a decline in moose population of 15 per cent a year even though hunters were already barred from killing female moose. Lajoie said the last survey in 1991 counted 650 moose in Zone 17.
An average of 200 moose used to be taken from this area by Cree and non-native hunters each year. In the past year, a no female kill regulation was imposed in Zone 17. Now the harvest is closer to 150 moose. Sports hunters and Crees take about the equal amount from this area.
Lajoie said the James Bay Agreement’s guaranteed quotas for the Crees haven’t been respected. In fact, this is the first time in 20 years that the agreement has been applied to the moose population anywhere in the Cree territory. Another fact is that the Waswanipi Crees haven’t been getting their “guaranteed” quota for years.
When the Crees first requested that a upper limit on moose kills be enforced for Zone 17, Quebec held the chairmanship of the committee and therefore held the deciding vote. This year, the chair was Deputy Grand Chief Kenny Blacksmith and his deciding vote passed the resolution.
The resolution also says no females should be killed in Zone 22. Lajoie said moose numbers in this area to the north of Waswanipi are no longer increasing.
The resolution now goes to the Quebec Minister of the Environment and Wildlife to be implemented. Said Lajoie, “It is urgent for the minister to act without further delay.”
The minister hadn’t received the resolution at press time. Wildlife official Dennis Vandal said the government supports most of the resolution, but believes it shouldn’t be implemented until next year.
Vandal said that’s why Quebec reps on the HTF Committee opposed the resolution. “It takes nine months to change a regulation like this and by that time the hunting season for sport hunters would have passed.”
In the past, the Cree Trappers’ Association has opposed limits on the Cree moose hunt, saying clear cutting and sport hunters are to blame for the moose crisis, not Crees.
Next issue: Trappers respond to the HTF Committee resolution.
