A bill likely to pass in the Canadian legislature could mean the end of traditional beluga whaling for Nunavimmiut in the Ungava Bay and Eastern Hudson Bay areas. The Species at Risk Act would create a government body to determine which wildlife populations are most at risk. The government believes only 200 beluga remain in Ungava, making that population ‘endangered’, while the estimated 4,000 beluga in Eastern Hudson Bay are ‘threatened’, making beluga whaling in either area illegal under the proposed law. Nunavik hunters dispute the government statistics, however, and Nunavik leaders are forming a ‘recovery team’ with the government to devise strategies to manage the populations in hopes of preventing a complete whaling ban.
