Approved trade of polar bear trophies 'acknowledgement of common sense'

A decision from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has approved the trade of polar bear trophies, after a committee found the current level of trade is not detrimental to the species' survival in the wild.

The ruling is a welcome one for Jim Goudie, the wildlife manager for Nunatsiavut.

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Goudie said the decision was written by more than 200 global scientific expertsfrom more than 50 countries, and shows that current regulations in Canada are on par with the polar bear population.

I don't know if I would call it a victory, I would call it an acknowledgement of common sense.- Jim Goudie

"It's something that the Inuit of Canada and certainly the government of Canada have been saying all along over the last decade or so, that our current harvest, our current management regimes are acceptable and it's fairly evident by the decision," Goudie told CBC's Labrador Morning.

"I don't know if I would call it a victory, I would call it an acknowledgement of common sense."

According to Goudie, one side of the argument surrounding the sale of polar bear items tends to be based in emotion rather than scientific fact, and this recent decision backs factual findings.

Open to discussion

He added the emotional attachment to polar bears is used as a draw for various organizations against the trophies.

"They have to keep funds coming in and polar bears are a very iconic species. I mean, you don't see any drives to save the slime fish," he said.

"You kind of have to, I don't want to say predate on those emotions of those people, but you have to kind of use that to kind of keep the argument going, so no, I'm not surprised by the emotion. I just wish people would take more time to sit down and look at actual facts."

Goudie said there's been discussion between both sides of the argument and he hopes it can lead to a better understanding between both sides.

"I don't know if we'll ever get to where everyone is on the same page, but I think that a discussion of facts and trying to, I don't want to say remove all the emotion, but you know some of the stuff that isn't actually based in any project or research is always a goal of ours."