Proposal 202: Western Arctic Herd & Teshekpuk Herd · During the last 12 mos. Region V staff conducted meetings in 18 communities within WAH range and also met with the Kobuk Valley

Proposal 202: Western Arctic Herd & Teshekpuk Herd

PROPOSAL 202 – 5 AAC 85.025 (a) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21). Hunting seasons and bag limits for caribou. and 5 AAC 92.085 (8) (D) Unlawful methods of taking big game; exceptions. PROPOSED BY: Alaska Department of Fish and Game at the request of the Alaska Board of Game Proposal 202 covers all of northwestern Alaska

• This proposal would modify caribou hunting regulations differently in each of 5 subareas within WAH range:

• Jim Dau will cover that portion of the proposal that deals with the WAH (Areas A, B & C on the following map)

• Lincoln Parrett will cover that portion of the proposal that deals with the TCH (Areas D & E)

Proposal 202 WAH: Slide 1

WHAT WOULD THE PROPOSAL DO? For WAH range: 1. Change the nonresident bag limit to 1 bull/year throughout the range

of the WAH

2. Prohibit the harvest of cows by nonresident hunters

3. Reduce the nonresident caribou season to 1 Aug. – 30 Sept. (in some areas a nonresident season may be announced within this period)

4. Prohibit the harvest of calves by all hunters

5. Eliminate the SDA caribou hunt in Unit 22 (These changes are numbered as above and highlighted yellow on the following slides.) WHAT ARE THE CURRENT REGULATIONS AND PROPOSED CHANGES? New language is bold and underlined text: e g. calves may not be taken Deleted language is bracketed and upper case: e g. [JULY 1–JUNE 30]

Western Arctic Herd: Proposal 202


Part B

Part C

Part A

Part D Part E


Part A Amended-- Majority of WAH Range


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NORTHERN WAH RANGE – pink codified

CENTRAL-SOUTHERN WAH RANGE no color to codified

PROPOSAL 202 MAP A AMENDED - NORTHERN WAH RANGE Units: 23 Northwest, 24A Remainder, 24B Remainder, 26A Southern portion Resident Open Season (Subsistence and Nonresident Units and Bag Limits General Hunts) Open Season RESIDENT HUNTERS: 5 caribou per day, as follows: Up to 5 bulls per day; however, July 1 – Oct. 14 calves may not be taken; Feb. 1 – June 30 Up to 5 cows per day; however, Jul. 15 – Apr. 30 calves may not be taken [5 CARIBOU; HOWEVER, [JULY 1 – JUNE 30] COW CARIBOU MAY NOT BE TAKEN MAY 16 – JUNE 30] NONRESIDENT HUNTERS: 1 bull; however, calves may not be taken Aug. 1 – Sept. 30 [5 CARIBOU; HOWEVER, [JULY 1 – JUNE 30]

COW CARIBOU MAY NOT BE TAKEN MAY 16 – JUNE 30]


PROPOSAL 202 MAP A AMENDED - CENTRAL-SOUTHERN WAH RANGE Units: 21D Remainder, 22A North, 22B Remainder, 22D Kuzitrin, 22E East, 23 Remainder, 24C, 24D Resident Open Season (Subsistence and Nonresident Units and Bag Limits General Hunts) Open Season RESIDENT HUNTERS: 5 caribou per day, as follows: Up to 5 bulls per day; however, July 1 – Oct. 14 calves may not be taken; Feb. 1 – June 30 Up to 5 cows per day; however, Sept. 1 – Mar. 31 calves may not be taken [5 CARIBOU; HOWEVER, [JULY 1 – JUNE 30] COW CARIBOU MAY NOT BE TAKEN MAY 16 – JUNE 30] NONRESIDENT HUNTERS: 1 bull; however, calves may not be taken Aug. 1 – Sept. 30 [5 CARIBOU; HOWEVER, [JULY 1 – JUNE 30]

COW CARIBOU MAY NOT BE TAKEN MAY 16 – JUNE 30]


Part B -- Unit 22 Reindeer Zones


WAH RANGE - REINDEER ZONE yellow codified

PROPOSAL 202 MAP C, AMENDED – REINDEER ZONE (SHORT PUBLISHED SEASON)

Units: 22B West, 22D Pilgrim River drainage

Resident Open Season (Subsistence and Nonresident Units and Bag Limits General Hunts) Open Season

RESIDENT HUNTERS: 5 caribou per day, as follows:

Up to 5 bulls per day; however, Oct. 1 – Oct. 14 calves may not be taken Feb. 1 – Apr. 30

Up to 5 cows per day; however, Oct. 1 – Mar. 31 calves may not be taken

5 caribou per day; however, (Season to be calves may not be taken; announced by during the period May 1 – emergency order) Sept. 30, a season may be announced by emergency order; however, cow caribou may not be taken April 1 – Aug. 31

[5 CARIBOU PER DAY; AND] [OCT. 1 – APR. 30]

[5 CARIBOU PER DAY; DURING [(SEASON TO BE THE PERIOD MAY 1 – SEPT. 30, ANNOUNCED BY A SEASON MAY BE ANNOUNCED BY EMERGENCY ORDER)] EMERGENCY ORDER; HOWEVER, COW CARIBOU MAY NOT BE TAKEN MAY 16 – JUNE 30]


PROPOSAL 202 MAP C, AMENDED – REINDEER ZONE (SHORT PUBLISHED SEASON)

Units: 22B West, 22D Pilgrim River drainage


NONRESIDENT HUNTERS: [5 CARIBOU; OR] [OCT. 1 – APR. 30] 1 bull; however, calves may not be taken (Season to be [5 CARIBOU]; during the period Aug. 1 [MAY 1] announced by – Sept. 30, a season may be emergency order) announced by emergency order [; HOWEVER COW CARIBOU MAY NOT BE TAKEN MAY 16 – JUNE 30]


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SEASON TO BE ANNOUNCED - WAH RANGE blue codified

NEW AMENDMENT


PROPOSAL 202 MAP C, AMENDED – SEASON TO BE ANNOUNCED

Remainder of Unit 22 (22A South, 22B West, 22D West, 22E West)


RESIDENT HUNTERS: 5 caribou per day; however, (Season to be calves may not be taken; announced by cow caribou may not be emergency order) taken Apr. 1 – Aug. 31; bull caribou may not be taken Oct. 15 – Jan. 31 [5 CARIBOU; HOWEVER, [JULY 1 – JUNE 30] COW CARIBOU MAY NOT BE TAKEN MAY 16 – JUNE 30] NONRESIDENT HUNTERS: 1 bull; however, calves may (Season to be not be taken; during the announced by period Aug. 1 – Sept. 30 emergency order) a season may be announced by emergency order [5 CARIBOU; HOWEVER, [JULY 1 – JUNE 30] COW CARIBOU MAY NOT BE TAKEN MAY 16 – JUNE 30] Proposal 202 WAH: Slide 11

92.085. Unlawful methods of taking big game; exceptions.

(8) a person who has been airborne may not take or assist in taking a big game animal until after 3:00 a.m. following the day in which the flying occurred; however, this paragraph does not apply to

[(D) TAKING CARIBOU FROM JANUARY 1 THROUGH APRIL 15, IN UNIT 22 IF THE HUNTER IS AT LEAST 300 FEET FROM THE AIRPLANE AT THE TIME OF TAKING;]


WHAT WOULD BE THE EFFECT IF THE PROPOSAL WERE ADOPTED? These actions will begin the transition from 30+ years of essentially unlimited harvests to incrementally more restrictive regulations as the WAH declines.

Department Recommendation: Support with amendments

ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS: Unit 23 Kotzebue Sound AC ………...........Support, amend WAH Unit 23 Upper Kobuk AC ………................Support, amend WAH Unit 23 Lower Kobuk AC ……….................Support, amend WAH Unit 23 N. Seward Peninsula AC ……..……Support, amend WAH Unit 23 Noatak/Kivalina AC……………..……Support, amend WAH Unit 24 Koyukuk AC ………………………..……Support, amend WAH Unit 22 N. Norton Sound AC……………..….Support Unit 22 S. Norton Sound AC………………....Support, amend WAH (“to be announced” season south of Unalakleet River) Unit 26A North Slope……………………………..Support, amend WAH Unit 21 Middle Yukon AC……………………..Did not meet Unit 21 Ruby AC………………………………..…Did not meet


ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS: WAH Working Group………………Support, amend WAH W. Interior RAC……………………….Support, amend WAH NW Arctic RAC………………… …….Support, amend WAH Seward Peninsula RAC…………….Oppose During the last 12 mos. Region V staff conducted meetings in 18 communities within WAH range and also met with the Kobuk Valley Subsistence Resource Committee, Red Dog Subsistence Resource Committee, and NW Arctic Borough Planning Commission: • Most (all?) of these groups supported reducing caribou harvests now

• Most (all?) of these groups strongly noted the need for predator

control


WAH Population Information This presentation:

• Census results & population projections

• Bull:cow ratios

• Importance of harvests & predation

• Harvestable surplus relative to: • IM and ANS levels • Harvests

• Harvests relative to WAH population size

• Summary of recommended amendments to Proposal 202 by ACs and

other organizations

• Land status map of WAH range


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WAH Census Results


Census Results & Population Projections

Note: Population projections are based on many assumptions that are not all going to be met – I’ve included them only to show that this herd will probably continue to decline in the near future

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15% constant decline

Liberal: >265,000

Conservative: 200,000-265,000

Preservative: 130,000-200,000

Critical: <130,000


Appendix 2: Management Recommendations Liberal Management (green)

• Reduce nonresident bull harvest only to maintain 40 bulls:100 cows • No restriction of resident bull harvest unless <40 bulls:100 cows

Conservative Management (orange) • No harvest of calves • No nonresident cow harvest • Restrict nonresident bull harvest • Encourage voluntary reduction in resident cow harvest • Limit subsistence harvest of bulls only if <40 bulls:100 cows

Preservative Management (yellow) • No harvest of calves • Limit harvest of cows by residents through permit hunts and/or village quotas • Limit subsistence harvest of bulls only if <40 bulls:100 cows • Harvest restricted to residents only according to State and federal law – closure of some federal public lands may be necessary

Critical Management (red) • No harvest of calves • Highly restrict resident cow harvest through permit hunts and/or village quotas • Limit subsistence harvest of bulls to maintain 40 bulls:100 cows • Harvest restricted to residents only according to State and federal law – closure of some federal public lands may be necessary


y = -0.5259x + 1100.3 R² = 0.669

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Fall Bull:Cow Ratios

40 B:100 C is the minimum level recommended in the Cooperative Management Plan


Total Harvestable Surplus (Bulls & Cows Combined) Relative to Annual Harvest Levels, IM and ANS

• Intensive Management (IM): When the harvestable surplus goes below 12,000 caribou, or the WAH population goes below 200,000 caribou, the State must consider IM • Amount Necessary for Subsistence (ANS): When the harvestable surplus goes below 8,000 caribou the State must exclude non subsistence uses

• Usually Tier II for residents • Season closure for nonresidents

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ANS = 8,000-12,000 caribou

IM harvest objective = 12,000-20,000 caribou IM harvest objective = 12,000-20,000 caribou

ANS = 8,000-12,000 caribou

HS = 2% cows + 15% bulls


Harvestable Surplus of Bulls & Cows Relative to Annual Harvest Levels

• Local harvest: 67% bulls & 33% cows (Subsistence Div. data) • Nonlocal harvest: 90% bulls & 10% cows (harvest ticket data)

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Total Annual Harvest as a Percentage of WAH Population

Average = 3.4% = 5.5%

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harvest data projection


Regulatory Year

Summary of recommended amendments to Proposal 202 by AC’s and other organizations

Calendar Year

= average cow closure dates = average bull closure dates = bulls & cows open


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#1 - bull: Kotz Sd

#2 - bull: Noa-Kvl

#3 - bull: N Sew Pen

#4 - bull: U Kobuk

#5 - bull: L Kobuk

#6 - bull: WAH WG: U23

#7 - bull: WAH WG: U26A

#8 - bull: W Int Rac

#9 - bull: Koyukuk

#10 - bull: NWA RAC

#11 - bull: N Nort Sd

#12 - cow: Kotz Sd

#13 - cow: Noa/Kvl

#14 - cow: N Sew Pen

#15 - cow: U Kobuk

#16 - cow: L Kobuk

#17 - cow: WG-U23

#18 - cow: WG-U26A

#19 - cow: W Int RAC

#20 - cow: Koyukuk

#21 - cow: NWA RAC

#22 - cow: N Nort Sd

#23 - cow: Kawerak

#24 - cow: LK

#25 - cow: S Nort Sd

Apr 4 Sep 2 Oct 11 Jan 26 Apr 4

Land Status Within 95% Kernel WAH Range


End of WAH Information


Documents

Proposal 202: Western Arctic Herd & Teshekpuk Herd · During the last 12 mos. Region V staff conducted meetings in 18 communities within WAH range and also met with the Kobuk Valley