Caribou limits will hurt hunting industry: outfitters

Hunting outfitters in the N.W.T.'s Tlicho regionare worried proposed restrictions on the Bathurst caribou herd could put them out of business.

As part of a plan to protect the declining herd, the territorial government wants to cut the number of animals allocated annually to individual outfitting companies from 132 to 35 or about 1,500 in all.

Outfitter Jim Peterson says the reduction is too much for a company to handle.

"Looking at this proposal we won't be operating this year,nor will any other outfitter," Peterson told CBC News recently after receiving notice of the proposal by e-mail.

His company needs at least 100 tags, or about 50 hunters, to stay afloat, he says.

"This is a mom-and-pop-operation and the territorial government just committed to selling us down the river," he said.

TheEnvironment and Natural Resources Department expects its plan to help people, including outfitters, cope with reduced harvest levels to be ready in January.

The Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board, which looks after wildlife in the Tlicho region, is going to hold hearings on the herdin the New Year.

It will consider the government's proposal, along with information gathered at the hearings, beforemaking recommendations to the environment minister on how best to protect the herd.

The herd, the largest inthe territory, has decreased from 472,000 animals in 1986 to 128,000 in 2006.