Total Abundance and Harvest Impacts on Eastern Hudson Bay and James Bay Beluga 2015–2022

Abstract

Belugas from the James Bay population (JAM) and Belcher Islands-Eastern Hudson Bay (BEL-EHB) stock are harvested by hunters from all Nunavik communities and the Nunavut community of Sanikiluaq. In 2020–2021, a total of 366 belugas were reported harvested by Nunavik hunters, including 41 animals harvested in the Long Island area. From those, an estimated 139 BEL-EHB animals were harvested. Another 19 BEL-EHB animals were harvested in Sanikiluaq. A population model fitted to a time series of 8 aerial survey estimates using Bayesian methods and taking into account removals by harvesters provided a 2021 abundance estimate of 16,700 belugas in James Bay and a range of 2,900–3,200 belugas in eastern Hudson Bay, depending on model assumptions. The James Bay population has levelled off since the last assessment, whereas the BEL-EHB stock is currently declining at a rate of 2.5% per year. A harvest of 190 belugas per year in James Bay, would result in a 50% probability of decline in the JAM population after 5 years. The Potential Biological Removal (PBR) for this population is 296 belugas. If a Precautionary Approach framework was used to manage beluga in James Bay, a range of 170-173 belugas could be harvested annually. For the BEL-EHB stock, two model runs were completed and harvests were evaluated against two benchmarks or thresholds over time frames of 5 and 10 years. Depending on model assumptions, benchmarks and timeframes, harvests should not exceed levels of 0–70 BEL-EHB belugas annually for the stock to remain above the benchmark abundance estimate. The PBR for this stock is 5 animals. Over a 50-year time period, if the annual harvest of beluga from the BEL-EHB stocks stays within 20-25 animals annually, then there is a high probability of staying above the precautionary reference level.