“That’s how we know they’re healthy”: the inclusion of traditional ecological knowledge in beluga health monitoring in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) from the Eastern Beaufort Sea (EBS) population are harvested annually in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) during their seasonal migration past coastal communities and harvest camps. The beluga harvest monitoring program is a flagship program of the ISR’s Fish an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Arctic Science
Main Authors: Sonja K. Ostertag, Lisa L. Loseto, Kathleen Snow, Jennifer Lam, Kristin Hynes, David Victor Gillman
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
French
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2018
Subjects:
co-production
arctic
subsistence hunting
beaufort sea
climate change
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Environmental engineering
TA170-171
Arctic
Inuvik
Paulatuk
Tuktoyaktuk
Beaufort Sea
Beluga
Beluga*
Climate change
Delphinapterus leucas
Inuvialuit
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0050
https://doaj.org/article/e6068370bf4240c3928182f9d4474a5f
Description
Summary:Belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) from the Eastern Beaufort Sea (EBS) population are harvested annually in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) during their seasonal migration past coastal communities and harvest camps. The beluga harvest monitoring program is a flagship program of the ISR’s Fish and Marine Mammal Community Monitoring Program, and it has provided critical information about beluga health and observed changes in the EBS population. This study aimed to develop a suite of local indicators of beluga health that bridged traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) about beluga condition, illness, and disease, with western science through the co-production of knowledge. Community members from Inuvik, Paulatuk, and Tuktoyaktuk with beluga harvesting and preparation experience were engaged to characterize beluga health from an Inuvialuit perspective. Inuvialuit knowledge about the environment and beluga health, values about hunting beluga, and Inuvialuit cosmology — the foundation of the knowledge system — were documented through semi-structured questionnaires (n = 66), semi-structured interviews (n = 78), and focus group meetings (n = 3). This research furthers our understanding of how Inuvialuit view beluga health from the physical and behavioural characteristics of belugas, values, and appropriate behaviours by harvesters and how observations made about beluga can be explained. To support the co-production of knowledge, a suite of local indicators was developed that bridged TEK about beluga condition, illness, and disease with western science.

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