Socio-economic predictors of Inuit hunting choices and their implications for climate change adaptation

• Main Authors: Hillemann, Friederike, Beheim, Bret, Ready, Elspeth
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Center for Open Science 2022
• Subjects: Arctic; Nunavik; Kangiqsujuaq; Climate change; inuit; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/sm683

In the Arctic, seasonal variation in the accessibility of the land, sea ice, and open waters influences which resources can be harvested safely and efficiently. Climate stressors are also increasingly affecting access to subsistence resources. Within Inuit communities, people differ in their involvement with subsistence activities, but little is know about how engagement in the cash economy (time and money available) and other socio-economic factors shape the food production choices of Inuit harvesters, and their ability to adapt to rapid ecological change. We analyse 281 foraging trips involving 23 Inuit harvesters from Kangiqsujuaq, Nunavik, using a Bayesian approach modeling both patch choice and within-patch success. Gender and income predict Inuit harvest strategies: while men, especially men from low-income households, often visit patches with a relatively low success probability, women and high-income hunters generally have a higher propensity to choose low-risk patches. Inland hunting, marine hunting, and fishing differ in the required equipment and effort, and hunters may have to shift their subsistence activities if certain patches become less profitable or less safe due to high costs of transportation or climate change (e.g., navigate larger areas inland instead of targeting seals on the sea ice). Our finding that household income predicts patch choice suggests that Inuit differ in their capacity to maintain access to country foods depending on their status in the wage economy.