A potential closure has been submitted through the Board of Game. The meeting will take place end of January. Comment period is open. Anchorage AC meeting is tomorrow. Mat Su Wednesday, and Fairbanks on the 11th.
I wouldn’t suspect the NR closure is passed by the Board, but after some decisions made last spring, I guess I wouldnt be surprised.
PROPOSAL 36
5 AAC 85.025. Hunting seasons and bag limits for caribou.
Reduce the caribou bag limit for residents in Unit 23 from five caribou per day to four caribou total, only one of which may be a cow as follows:
5 AAC 85.025(18). Unit 23 caribou.
RESIDENT HUNTERS: Four caribou [FIVE CARIBOU
PER DAY], however, no more than 1 cow may be taken by permit available online at http://
hunt.alaska.gov or in person in Kotzebue, Utqiagvik, and at license vendors in Units 23 and 26A beginning June 1.
What is the issue you would like the board to address and why?
The continuous decline of the Western Arctic caribou herd (WACH) and the need to address harvest levels of bulls and in particular cows, to try and halt the decline and allow the population to begin to recover. Currently, the bag limit is five per day during the open periods for bulls and cows. We are proposing a change to four caribou per regulatory year, with no more than one being a cow. We believe a severe reduction is called for under the preservation status of the WACH in the WACH Working Group guidelines for the current population level of 160,000 with year after year declines being observed.
PROPOSED BY: Kotzebue Advisory Committee
PROPOSAL 37
5 AAC 85.025. Hunting seasons and bag limits for caribou.
Reduce the caribou bag limit for residents in Unit 23 from five caribou per day to four caribou total, only one of which may be a cow as follows:
5 AAC 85.025(18).
Unit 23 caribou.
RESIDENT HUNTERS: Four caribou per regulatory year [FIVE CARIBOU PER DAY], however, no more than 1 cow may be taken by permit available online at http:// hunt.alaska.gov or in person in Kotzebue, Utqiagvik, and at license vendors in Units 23 and 26A beginning June 1.
What is the issue you would like the board to address and why? Reduce the caribou harvest limit in all of Unit 23 to four caribou (either four bulls or three bulls and one cow) per regulatory year. The Western Arctic caribou herd (WACH) has continued to decline with the most recent estimate being 164,000 caribou. The Northwest Arctic Regional Advisory Council (NWARAC) is greatly concerned about the precipitous decline of the WACH and feel that this action is needed to slow the decline and prevent the herd from reaching a point of no return. The NWARAC feels that the harvest recommendations set forth by the WACH working group would be a starting point for the conservation of the WACH while still allowing some harvest. The NWARAC recognizes that subsistence users are already facing food insecurities, but this drastic reduction of caribou harvest is a means to help protect the caribou herd while still allowing some harvest.
The NWARAC also submitted a proposal to eliminate nonresident caribou harvest in Unit 23.
PROPOSED BY: Northwest Arctic Regional Advisory Council (NWARAC)
PROPOSAL 38
5 AAC 85.025. Hunting seasons and bag limits for caribou. Close all nonresident caribou hunting in Unit 23 as follows:
Unit 23, that portion north of and including the Singoalik River:
NONRESIDENT HUNTERS: No Open Season [1 BULL; AUG. 1-SEPT. 30]
Remainder of Unit 23:
NONRESIDENT HUNTERS: No Open Season [1 BULL; AUG. 1-SEPT. 30]
For all of Unit 23, close all caribou hunts to nonresidents, no open seasons are permitted.
What is the issue you would like the board to address and why? The Western Arctic caribou herd (WACH) population has been in decline for years and the low population level in 2022 is cause for concern. This proposal would close hunting of caribou in Unit 23 year-round to nonresident hunters to help with conservation and recovery of the herd, although still providing some opportunity for resident hunters.
The Northwest Arctic Council also submitted a proposal to reduce harvest limits for resident hunters.
PROPOSED BY: Northwest Arctic Regional Advisory Council (NWARAC)