Save our Polar Bears
See my blog on Save Our Grizzly Bears, the same applies to Polar Bears in the Arctic. While in this case I do support native hunting rights since they use all of the Polar Bear, while the only reason for Hunting Grizzly is for trophy/sport hunting which I oppose. However the polar bear is vulnerable, and hunting needs to be restricted to need, not commercial or traditional hunting.
However the controversy this year is that people in Nunavut are pormoting the commercial/sport hunting of Polar Bears, which is why they have been demanding an increase in their hunting quotas. " The increased quota will bring more money into the territory, since there will be more sport hunts Polar bears shot in such hunts, usually by free-spending American hunters, can bring in between $20,000 and $35,000 apiece in terms of economic spinoffs."

Scientists from five circumpolar nations now say the polar bear population could be considered vulnerable.

Yeah but the global warming is having an impact on the Polar Bear Populations as reported back in 2002, see story below. While in Newfoundland because of the increase number seals and reduction in the seal hunt quotas Polar Bears are thriving again.
While Polar Bears can be a hazard to humans living in the North when they kill them they still use the meat fur, etc. and share it in the community. Which is as it should be.

Scientists urge Nunavut to rethink polar bear hunt quotas

Last updated Jul 3 2005 10:18 PM MDT
CBC News

Scientists from five circumpolar countries have boosted the status of polar bears to vulnerable on an international list signalling species at risk. Researchers with the Polar Bear Specialist Group say the Arctic is shrinking and the world's largest terrestrial carnivore is at risk. The group, created after countries such as Canada, Norway and the United States signed an international agreement to conserve polar bears in the 1970s, say changing ice conditions and pollution making its way to the Arctic are taking their toll on polar bears. They say the threat is so grave that in the next 50 years the world's polar bear population will likely drop by more than 30 per cent. "We're seeing some fairly significant reductions in the actual area that pack ice occupies in the Arctic and we're seeing some thinning in the thickness of the ice," said Scott Schliebe, a member of the Polar Bear Specialist group who is based in Anchorage, Alaska. The scientists say polar bears are vulnerable because of their changing world and the circumpolar countries should exercise caution before boosting their hunting quotas. They say any decisions should be based on both traditional knowledge and scientific studies. The group wants Nunavut to rethink its recent increase in polar bear quotas. Most notably, it's calling for a decrease this year in the hunt in western Hudson Bay.

FROM: JAN. 10, 2005 Nunavut hunters can kill more polar bears this year

Scientists such as Schliebe say the population there is lower than originally believed. "We would like those levels to be adjusted to the current population abundance estimate, 950 animals, and we would like the adjustment to be calculated as sustainable over time," said Schliebe. The group also says too many polar bears are being killed in Chukotka, Russia and in Greenland. They say both regions should get their hunts under control.

Greenland shifts hunting policy to protect polar bears

Last Updated Mon, 11 Jul 2005 13:18:29 EDT

CBC News

Greenland will enact quotas for its polar bear hunt following international criticism about its hunting practices.

"We are in the process of writing a change to the law regarding the protection and hunting of polar bears," said Fernando Uqarte of Greenland's Fisheries and Wildlife Service. "There will be quotas for next year."

The Polar Bear Specialist Group ranks the animals as 'vulnerable,' up from 'species of concern.'

In recent years, international scientists and organizations in Nunavut have criticized hunters in Greenland for overhunting polar bears. Many said the hunts were affecting both the territory's harvest and the bears' survival.

Nunavut recently discovered that Greenland hunters were killing up to 200 polar bears a year in Baffin Bay, triple the number originally believed were being harvested.

Historically, there have been few controls on the hunt in Greenland, but the polar region, a self-governing territory of Denmark, is shifting its policy.

Only professional hunters are allowed to kill polar bears in Greenland. They earn more than 50 per cent of their income from hunting.

Under the new regulations, expected to come into effect in January, they'll have to apply for a licence to sell the skin, meat or any other part of the polar bear.

"They'll need to turn in a report about where it was shot and if it's a male or female and all kinds of information about the hunt," said Janni Lonstrup, a representative of the Greenland's Home Rule government.

Hunters will also face restrictions on the shooting of females and cubs, she added.

The new regulations will also make it possible for the Greenland government to allow foreign visitors in for trophy hunts, though Lonstrup said that isn't expected to happen soon.

FROM JULY 4, 2005: Rethink polar bear hunt quotas, scientists tell Nunavut hunters

Nunavut has also faced international criticism for increasing its polar bear hunt quotas.

A recent meeting by polar bear scientists from five circumpolar nations urged governments and wildlife authorities to classify the bears as vulnerable due to shrinking ice packs in parts of the Arctic and other change in their habitat, such as pollution.

That recommendation has not yet been acted upon.

Polar Bear Specialist Group
http://www.gh.gl/index_english.htm"> Nunavut Wildlife Management Board

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Chemical concentrations rise in polar bears

Last updated Oct 5 2004 09:39 AM CDT
CBC News

Scientists have found the levels of fluorinated chemicals in polar bears in the

Levels of fluorinated chemicals are doubling every four to six years in the bears, scientists say

Canadian Arctic are increasing at an alarming rate. The chemicals are used as stain repellents on carpets, clothing and furniture. They add to the already high levels of PCBs found in polar bear fat.

Fluorochemicals
PCB levels have been slowly coming down in polar bears as an worldwide ban reduces the amount found in the environment, but there isn't a similar agreement on the emissions of fluorinated chemicals.

The chemicals are used in Stainmaster carpets, Gore-Tex fabric, Teflon frying pans, medical equipment tubing and the oil-repellent wrappers used by fast food restaurants to serve hamburgers.

They evaporate off items and make their way through the atmosphere, carried by snow and rain, to the North.

Now they're ending up in the liver of the animal found at the top of the Arctic food chain. Some researchers suggest fluorinated chemicals have now become the most highly concentrated pollutants in Arctic life
.

Derek Muir, a research scientist with Environment Canada, says the chemicals are doubling in concentration in polar bears every four to six years. "We've found some fluorinated chemicals that we frankly didn't expect to see," he says. "These are things used on carpets as stain repellents and we've also recently found that these amounts are going up in the bears." Health Canada is concerned high levels of fluorinated chemicals in bears means the same fate for humans. But preliminary findings from blood samples taken from more than 500 people in the North show so far that's not the case. Inuit eat polar bear meat but not the liver, and that could be one of the reasons the rates are low. "The concentrations did not appear greater in the northern population than those reported for southern population," says Samuel Benrejeb, who is with Health Canada's Bureau of chemical safety.

LINK: Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Arctic

Benrejeb says Health Canada is now preparing to do a more extensive study in the North. As for polar bears, the high levels of fluorinated compounds are a concern. Biologists fear they will affect the bear's thyroid and growth. Fluorochemicals are known to be a rat carcinogen, but it's not known what it's effect is on humans.

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