GREENLAND'S SCIENTIFIC AUTHORITY ON CITES SAYS NO TO NARWHAL EXPORT
Last update 11.1.2006 13.00 UTC
Complete text of document:
Til
Direktoratet for Miljų og Natur [The Greenlandic Homerule ministry of Environment and Nature]
P.O. Box 1614
3900 Nuuk
4/10-2005 0300-3101
Standing Non-Detrimental Findings for Exports from Greenland of Products derived
from Narwhal (Monodon monoceros)
As is required under Arcticle IV, Paragraph 2 of CITES, any export permit shall only be
granted when the Scientific Authority of the State of export has advised that such export will
not be detrimental to the survival of the species.
In determining the extend that harvesting of narwhals in Greenland waters for trade is
potentially impacting natural populations, the following have been considered:
Management
- New regulations came into the Greenland legislation in March 2004 allowing the
Home Rule Government to set quotas on narwhals in West Greenland. Quotas are not
set for East Greenland. The quota and harvest is managed using separate reporting for
each narwhal and a general reporting system - PINIARNEQ - where each hunter
reports the total harvest of all species for each month.
- Quotas are based on management recommendations from international management
organisations. The Canada/Greenland Joint Commission on Conservation and
Management of Narwhal and Beluga (JCNB) gives recommendations for stocks of
narwhal and beluga that are shared between Greenland and Canada. And the North
Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO) gives recommendations for
Greenlandic stocks not shared with Canada.
- The scientific advice for JCNB and NAMMCO on harvest sustainability is provided
by a Joint Working Group (JWG) of the Scientific Working Group (SWG) of JCNB
and a NAMMCO Scientific Committee Working Group. The NAMMCO SC
reconsiders the recommendations of the JWG before they are given to the
Commission. The JWG meets on a regular basic - approximately every two years - to
discuss beluga and narwhal stock status, to perform stock assessments, and to develop
joint recommendations for management.
West Greenland
- Narwhals occur in four aggregations in West Greenland and only one, the Melville
Bay, is considered distinct. The other three aggregations are suspected to be
connected through annual migrations from Inglefield Bredning in summer, to
Uummannaq in November and to Disko Bay in winter. Other stocks summering in
Northern Canada winter in central Baffin Bay and do not seem to provide whales to
the hunting grounds along the coast of West Greenland. A stock in Jones and Smith
Sound may, however, be providing animals for the harvest in West Greenland.
- Surveys conducted in 2001 and 2002 in Inglefield Bredning show that the abundance
of narwhals at this locality has decreased since last surveys in 1985-86 and that the
decline in recent years may have been as large 10% per year. Surveys conducted in
Disko Bay from 1981 through 1998 indicate an annual decline in abundance of
narwhals of 3% per year.
- The level of removals of narwhals in West Greenland has increased considerably
since the 1950s. The removals apparently peaked in the early 1990s where after they
have remained relatively constant at 700 per year until 2004, where a quota was set.
The increase in removals since the 1980s is considered a main cause of the observed
decline in abundance in the two survey areas in West Greenland.
- Several assessment models testing different stock structure hypotheses for narwhals
in West Greenland were run by the JWG in February 2004. Despite of some variation
in the results of the different models, they all point to the conclusion that West
Greenland narwhals are severely depleted and that immediate actions needs to be
taken to halt the decline. The maximum recommended removal for West Greenland,
excluding Melville Bay, was 135 whales per year (including loss).
- For Melville Bay it was not possible to develop a formal assessment because no
abundance data were available from this area. Since surveys had failed to detect
narwhals in Melville Bay, it was assumed that the abundance is low, and it was
recommended that no further catches be taken from this area until abundance
estimates are made available.
- JCNB recommended in 2004 that removals in Greenland should be reduced to a level
as close as possible to the level recommended by the SWG (JWG). The Greenland
Home Rule complied with this recommendation by introducing one-year quotas from
July 1 2004, with a quota of 300 non-transferable units for western Greenland. This
quota was reduced 260 units for the second year, starting from July 1 2005.
East Greenland
- There is only little information on the population structure of narwhals in East
Greenland. Genetic studies show that they are not related to those in Baffin Bay-
Davis Strait.
- There is only little information on stock size and abundance of narwhals in East
Greenland.
- Data on reported catches are available for East Greenland. They are un-corrected and
trends are difficult to infer unless correction factors are applied. Current un-corrected
reporting shows an average take of 80 narwhals per year.
- No assessment has been conducted for narwhals in East Greenland. The last
considerations of NAMMCO SC relating to East Greenland narwhals are from 1999,
where it was noted that present harvesting probably does not pose an immediate
threat to the stock, considering the large area from which the whales are recruited
relative to the restricted areas where hunting is conducted.
Trade and Export
- Export of narwhal products from Greenland is mainly restricted to tusk, tooth and
crafted parts of narwhal tusks. Because of several confounding factors, the statistics
on export of narwhal products cannot be used directly to provide insight into the
utilisation of narwhals in Greenland.
- The most valuable hunting product of narwhal in Greenland is the skin, also known as
mattak. All mattak can be sold at the internal market in Greenland and no export
occurs. The meat can be sold for much lower prices and also for local consumption
only.
- Tusks have a relative low value compared with mattak, and trade in tusks is not the
primary incentive for the narwhal hunt in Greenland. However, income from selling
of tusks is also part of the subsistence economy, and it cannot be excluded that trade
in tusk and crafted parts thereof is not influencing the harvest of narwhals.
Conclusion on non-detrimental findings for export
- Although the increased removals since the 1980s is considered a main cause of the
observed decline in narwhal abundance in the two survey areas in West Greenland,
the current management system should allow exports of products from narwhals
hunted in West Greenland to be non-detrimental to the survival of natural narwhal
populations if the annual removal (including loss) of narwhals from specified areas in
West Greenland are smaller than or equal to the scientific recommendations of the
JWG. If removals from specified areas exceed the recommendations it cannot be
concluded that exports are non-detrimental. The current recommendation is an annual
removal (including loss) of no more than 135 narwhals from West Greenland
excluding Melville Bay, and no removal from Melville Bay. The preliminary estimate
of the removal (including reported loss) for 2004/05 - the first year of the quotation
system - is 294 narwhals from West Greenland with 62 taken in Melville Bay.
- For East Greenland the lack of explicit scientific recommendations on sustainability
makes it difficult to conclude on non-detrimental findings. The consideration of
NAMMCO SC in 1999 that "present harvesting probably does not pose an immediate
threat to the stock" and the lack of an apparent trend in recent catch statistics for East
Greenland suggests that current takes in East Greenland may be non-detrimental. As
narwhal in East Greenland will be taken up at the next meeting of the JWG to be held
in October 2005, it is recommended that the status of non-detrimental findings for
narwhal in East Greenland is reconsidered after the next meeting of the NAMMCO
SC.
- As there is no trade-system in place that will distinguish whether narwhal products
originate from whales caught in West Greenland excluding Melville Bay, in Melville
Bay, or in East Greenland it cannot be concluded that the current export of narwhal
products from Greenland is non-detrimental as, with the current catches, it might be
detrimental to narwhals in West Greenland.
Lars Witting
CITES Scientific Authority
Greenland | 