ACCWM Meeting in Deline: Update on MOU and Action Plans for Bluenose Caribou Herds

The Advisory Committee for Cooperation on Wildlife Management (ACCWM) met in Délı̨nę on June 28-30, 2016. Grant Pryyznyk, WRRB Chair, and Jody Pellissey, Executive Director, attended the meetings, along with representatives of the five other wildlife management boards that make up the ACCWM:  the Gwich’in Renewable Resources Board, the Sahtú Renewable Resources Board (SRRB) the Wildlife Management Advisory Council-NWT, Tuktut Nogait National Park Management Board, and the Kitikmeot Regional Wildlife Board.

Members of the ACCWM met in Délı̨nę on June 28-20, 2016  Photo:  Jen Lam, IGC

In Délı̨nę, the  ACCWM signed an amended Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)  that sets out how the six Member Boards work together.  It also finalized drafts for three Action Plans for the Bluenose caribou herds --the focus of the first two days of the meeting. The Action Plans are related to the Taking Care of Caribou:  The Cape Bathurst, Bluenose-West and Bluenose-East Caribou Herd Management Plan and are the next step in management planning for the three herds. The Action Plans will outline the actions to be taken to help the herds and how those management actions will be put into place. 

Each Member Board will now take the draft Action Plans through its own internal review process. Following that, the Action Plans will be submitted to the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Government of Nunavut and other Aboriginal governments with authority in the Bluenose caribou herds' ranges.

Day 3 included a session with GNWT where Bluenose-West and Cape Bathurst herds were discussed, as well as a short presentation on the "Rivest method".  This is a new method adopted by GNWT for estimating the population size of a herd after a post-calving ground photo survey.  [Note:  this method is not used on the Bluenose-East herd as a calving ground photo survey is conducted on this herd.]

Community members were also invited to an evening Open House. They heard a short presentation on the ACCWM, and information about the Taking Care of Caribou management plan and the Action Plans that are being developed. 

Fact Box: 

• The ACCWM was established to share information and coordinate wildlife management for shared species, particularly species that cross land claim and treaty area boundaries.
• The Taking Care of Caribou:  The Cape Bathurst, Bluenose-West and Bluenose-East Caribou Herd Management Plan addressess long-term management and stewardship of the Bluenose caribou herds.  The purpose of the Plan is to develop a cooperative approach to managing the Bluenose caribou herds, protecting the habitat in the herds' range, and making decisions on the shared harvest in an open and fair manner.