Published 8:48 am Tuesday, October 6, 2026 By William Koblensky Varela Local Journalism Initiative Northern News Service The Qikiqtaaluq Wildlife Management Board and the Sanikiluaq Hunters and Trappers Association lost their case in the Nunavut Court of Appeal on Sept. 25, after a three-year legal battle with the Government of Nunavut. At issue was counting defensive kills of polar bears towards harvest limits and using credits from previous years to hunt more polar bear than normally allowed. Sanikiluaq hunters are normally allocated a total allowable harvest of 25 polar bears per year, the three-judge panel explained in its decision. The hunters and trappers association can accrue credits from previous years if harvesters don’t take all 25 polar bears in a given year. By the 2020-21 hunting season, the Sanikiluaq Hunters and Trappers Association had accumulated 33 credits from previous years, a Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board document shows. The hunters applied to use 29 of those credits and were granted permission by the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board. But hunters only harvested 47 polar bears of their 54 total allowable harvest that season. That left the the Sanikiluaq Hunters and Trappers Association with 11 credits they could use in future years. However, Nunavut Wildlife Management Board rules state that hunters and trappers associations can only be automatically granted 25 per cent of their normal total allowable harvest. If they apply for more than that amount, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board must undertake a review of the request. The Sanikiluaq Hunters and Trappers Association applied to use eight credits in the 2021-22 season, but were only automatically granted six credits. An additional two credits would require a review, the three-judge panel explained. After accepting the six credits automatically awarded, the Sanikiluaq Hunters and Trappers Association took the GN to court in 2023. The Nunavut Court of Justice ruled against the hunters in 2024, leading to the appeal launched later that year. The hunters maintained that the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board violated the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. Kills of polar bears made in self-defence were counted towards the total allowable harvest by the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, which the Sanikiluaq Hunters and Trappers Association said was beyond the board’s power. However, the panel of judges found that there’s nothing in the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement that says self-defence kills can’t be counted towards the total allowable harvest. A fair accounting system for polar bears killed in self-defence should be worked on with hunters and trappers associations, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board recommended during the case. The rule requiring a review for using credits over 25 per cent of a total allowable harvest, the hunters argued, is arbitrary and without explanation. But the judges ruled that the resetting of harvest limits serves a legitimate conservation goal.
Sanikiluaq Hunter and Trapper Organization loses appeal over polar bear harvest
