The Nunatsiavut Government is pleased to learn that the United States has decided not to propose a vote in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to move polar bear from Appendix II to Appendix I, which would have resulted in a ban on international trade of the animal.
Representatives from the Nunatsiavut Government, Nunavik, Nunavut and the Government of Canada travelled to Washington in February to discuss the strength of Inuit polar bear management systems within Canada.
They lobbied the US Fish and Wildlife Service to not proceed with its proposal at the next CITES meeting scheduled in South Africa in September.
“We are pleased that the US saw the rationale put forward by Inuit and the Government of Canada as strong evidence that polar bear sub-populations within Canada are effectively managed,” says Nunatsiavut’s Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Darryl Shiwak. “Labrador Inuit harvest polar bear from the Davis Strait sub-population and our management system is one of the best in the country.”
In addition to the rationale put forward by Inuit, a meeting of the CITES animal committee in Tel Aviv, Israel last September concluded that the current level of international trade in polar bear is not detrimental to the survival of the species.