– If quotas are no longer given for narwhals, we will become the last hunters

NAMMCO has recommended a halt to the capture of narwhals since 2019, and the organization has recently reiterated its recommendation.

Since the populations of narwhals and belugas in East Greenland are assessed as endangered, the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission recommends that the capture cease.

Åge Danielsen, one of the nine commercial trappers in Ittoqqortoormiit, can neither understand nor accept this recommendation.

– I don’t understand it at all. The narwhals we see here – both we trappers and the recreational trappers – see a lot. They pass by Ittoqqortoormiit in such large numbers that I can’t even estimate how many there are, says Åge Danielsen.

He is 38 years old and has been a trapper since he finished primary school in 2005. The narwhal is an important source of food and income for the trappers in Ittoqqortoormiit all year round.

“It is a very important catch because we cannot do without it,” he says.

The trapper's profession may be lost

This year, 41 quotas have been allocated for narwhals in East Greenland, and more narwhals are caught in the area than belugas. In total, quotas have been allocated for 30 belugas in the period 2022–2027, of which seven have not yet been caught.

The narwhal is so important to the trappers in Ittoqqortoormiit that, according to them, the profession risks losing its future if quotas are no longer allocated.

– If no more quotas are allocated, I believe that we nine trappers will be the last trappers here. We will be the last, because even though we try to pass on the profession to the next generation, it will be prevented by the large quota restrictions, says Åge Danielsen.

The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources recommends quotas to Naalakkersuisut, and their recommendations are based, among other things, on NAMMCO's assessments, which also indicate that quotas should not be allocated for narwhals and belugas.

It is the Naalakkersuisoq for capture that decides how many quotas should be allocated. Naalakkersuisoq for capture, Peter Borg, is encouraged by Åge Danielsen to visit Ittoqqortoormiit.

– The Naalakkersuisoq for capture should visit Ittoqqortoormiit to hear the trappers' knowledge. Such an important resource as this whale cannot suddenly be banned from being caught, says Åge Danielsen.

Asking questions during the count

Åge Danielsen clearly remembers an experience from September 2022, when he and about five fellow hunters were in Kangersuttuaq hunting narwhals.

After six days of hunting, a Twin Otter plane flew over the area to count the whales. According to Åge Danielsen, over 600 narwhals passed through Kangersuttuaq during the six days.

The narwhals enter the fjord in groups. The number in each group varies, but there are typically around ten animals – sometimes over 30.

According to him, the plane flew over the area twice to count the narwhals. Later, the hunters spoke to a colleague who had been on the flight to hear what had been seen.

– When we spoke to our fellow hunter, who was in Nerlerit Inaat in the evening, we asked him, and he said that they had not seen narwhals, but that they had seen our boats, Åge Danielsen says and continues.

– This shows very clearly how difficult it is to count narwhals from an airplane.

Inviting the biologists to their hunting ground

According to Åge Danielsen, there are three different groups of narwhals around Ittoqqortoormiit.

– The narwhals that come in from the sea off the coast are tall and wide and have larger bellies. The others we call the narrow ones – they are longer. And then there are the regular narwhals. We catch the common ones in the summer, while the others from the sea and the narrow ones stay in our area in the winter and spring, says Åge Danielsen.

He has no doubt that some narwhals are overlooked because the counts are done within a specific time frame.

– The narwhals that appear in the spring like now are not noticed by biologists because they are narwhals from a different group. They are the ones from outside the sea, which sometimes stay in our area until July. It would be surprising if they were no longer allowed to be caught, because there are so many of them.

It is not unusual for biologists and trappers to disagree. This time the disagreement is about how many narwhals there are in East Greenland.

If the counts are to be improved, what do you think should be done?

– The biologists should go with us to our catch areas. They can count the narwhals from land in the areas where we catch them. Only there would they really be able to see them. Not by using planes for counting, but by using boats, concludes Åge Danielsen.

We have tried to get a comment from Fernando Ugarte, head of the department for mammals and birds at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, on Åge Danielsen's recommendations and criticism of the biologists' methods.

Since he is currently in fieldwork, it has not been possible to get a comment.

Previously, Siumut has criticized NAMMCO's recommendation not to issue quotas for narwhals in East Greenland. The party believes that the decision is not sufficiently documented or clearly justified.

- The basis for the advice is extensively documented and publicly available in a large number of places, Fernando Ugarte wrote, among other things, in a written comment to Sermitsiaq. You can read the entire article here.