Research Document - 2005/010
Abundance of Eastern Hudson Bay belugas
By Hammill, M.O., V. Lesage,
J.-F. Gosselin
Abstract
A population model was used to follow changes in the eastern Hudson Bay (EHB) beluga population since 1985. The model incorporating harvest information was fitted to aerial survey data by adjusting initial population size and estimates of the number of animals struck, but not reported. The number of belugas in eastern Hudson Bay has declined from approximately 4,200 (SE=300) animals in 1985 to 3,100 (SE=800) in 2004. In order to achieve this fit, 1.67 animals are estimated to be lost for every animal reported in the harvest. Overall harvest rates have declined under the current management plan. The rate of decline in this population has also likely slowed. To halt the decline, a reported harvest rates must be reduced to 61 animals (replacement yield).
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