Inuit group denounces EU decision to ban import of polar bear parts

Last Updated: Friday, December 12, 2008
CBC News

Nunavut's Inuit say Canada should have done more to fight a European import
ban on polar bear trophies from animals killed in the Baffin Bay and Kane
Basin regions. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

A European Union import ban on polar bear trophies from two regions in
Canada's Arctic has raised the hackles of the Inuit organization, Nunavut
Tunngavik Inc.

The Inuit fear the recently announced ban on bears from the Kane Basin and
Baffin Bay areas, between Nunavut and Greenland, will hurt the lucrative
sport hunting industry.

They say hunters from Europe will not want to come to hunt if they cannot
take home the hides and trophies.

The decision also comes just six months after the United States banned the
import of polar bear trophies.

NTI second vice-president Raymond Ningeocheak said the federal government
should have done more to fight the European decision which was based on
information from Nunavut and Canadian government biologists.

And Ottawa should have worked harder years ago to reach a joint management
agreement with Greenland to control its hunt, he said.

But Environment Minister Jim Prentice said he is just pleased the ban did
not include all of the country's polar bear regions.

The partial ban is a sign the Europeans have confidence in Canada's
management of the bears, he said.

'I would like to think that we will come out of there with a consensus on
some things that need to be done.'‹ Environment Minister Jim Prentice

The situation with the bears of Kane Basin and Baffin Bay will be discussed
at a federal round table to be held in Winnipeg in January.

"I would like to think that we will come out of there with a consensus on
some things that need to be done," Prentice said.

The European Union may even lift the ban once it can see more is being done
to protect the bears, he said.
WWF supports import ban

Meanwhile, the EU ban has been applauded by World Wildlife Fund Canada.

The polar bears in these two regions are threatened by overhunting and
thinning ice, said Peter Ewins, director of species conservation for the
group.

"This is one of the precautionary steps that needs to be taken until such
time as those populations do recover to a level which can sustain a
sustainable harvest," said Ewins.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/12/12/bear-ban.html