Recent moose hunting regulation proposals for North Skeena Region are favouring trophy hunting over the licensed B.C. sustenance hunt for bull moose.
The Northwest Fish & Wildlife Conservation Association (N.F.W.C.A.) represents B.C.’s licensed resident hunters in the Skeena Region. Resident hunters harvest moose for sustenance to provide wild meat for their families, states N.F.W.C.A. president David Lewis. Non-resident hunters, by comparison, hunt moose in North Skeena primarily for the trophy antlers and rarely utilize the meat.
An eleventh-hour regulation change would see licensed sustenance hunters pushed into very restrictive antler restrictions for 2018 that would force them to primarily target large-antlered bull moose.
It is well proven that mature bulls are a very important component for the long-term health of the moose population.
Forcing hunters to take the prime breeding males goes against the primary goal of sustenance hunters, that being access to wild meat from a range of age classes of bull moose.
Focusing on trophy-antlered bulls is a poorly-thought initiative. As well, antler restrictions are responsible for countless dead moose that do not meet the “trophy” criteria.
Consultations regarding the regulation changes have been very limited and have deliberately excluded the longstanding Skeena Hunter’s Advisory Committee (S.H.A.C.), which has broad community support and participation.
The S.H.A.C. has a successful 25-year history as the consultation process in Skeena Region, initiated by local MLA Jackie Pement and the NDP Minister responsible Moe Sihota in 1993.
The community of Atlin, whose residents depend very heavily on moose for sustenance, only found out about the drastic changes proposed for their licensed hunt on Feb. 9.
The Atlin community has a seat on the S.H.A.C. where inclusive consultation could have been easily facilitated.
As well, face-to-face meetings in that remote community should have been a primary focus for B.C. government public servants.
To be clear, these hunting regulation proposals have nothing to do with conservation, and the Wildlife Branch’s reasoning for fast-tracking them is questionable.
Letters to those responsible in government have been left unanswered.
The provincial Minister responsible, Doug Donaldson of the Skeena Region, should hold the government-appointed bureaucrats to task, Lewis states, and allow for timely and inclusive consultation through the well-proven S.H.A.C. process.
Meetings with the Minister have been requested by members of the S.H.A.C. with the hope that a poorly-thought decision is not made in regard to the promotion of trophy hunting over sustenance hunting by B.C.’s licensed resident hunters.
Northwest Fish & Wildlife Conservation Association