Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 11
Summary of Status Report
Without recent and complete survey information, and with uncertainty about hunting mortality and natural mortality, it is not possible to provide a quantitative estimate of the size of the Baffin Bay narwhal population, or of that portion of the population that enters Canadian waters, or to detect a trend. There is also no clear consensus among Inuit hunters of a population trend. While tens of thousands of narwhals from this population summer in Canadian waters, and the apparent increase in hunting mortality since 1977 increase the urgency of improving knowledge of the Baffin Bay population (JCNB/NAMMCO 2001).
Similar uncertainties exist for the Hudson Bay population, which likely numbers several thousand animals. Hunters from Repulse Bay may have removed between 5.2 and 6.7% of the Hudson Bay narwhal population in 1999, and 3.6 to 4.7% in 2001. This population is unlikely to support these rates of removal over the long term. Consequently, the annual harvesting limit for Repulse Bay was reduced in 2002 from 100 to 72 narwhals. An integrated management plan is being developed for the Hudson Bay population.
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