Description

Report with descriptions of the harvest management regimes for all subpopulations.

The report supports the PBRS Circumpolar Action Plan (CAP), Objective 4 - Ensure that harvest of polar bear subpopulations is managed in a biologically sustainable manner in accordance with sound conservation practices, and is a product (deliverable 1) of the Obejctive-4 Action HM-A4: Submit a description of the harvest regime for each subpopulation.

Purpose:
The purpose of HM-A4 is to describe the harvest regime for each harvested polar bear subpopulation to provide a framework to ensure that harvest is carried out in a biologically sustainable manner and in accordance with sound conservation practices. This work builds directly on Regehr et al. (2025), which identified international consensus principles for the sustainable harvest of polar bears. Sustainable polar bear harvest contributes directly to the vision of the Circumpolar Action Plan (CAP) to secure the long-term persistence of polar bears in the wild that represents the genetic, behavioral, life-history, and ecological diversity of the species. The HM-A4 Harvest Regime Table was built using source materials that consider both Western Science/Scientific approaches* and Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK) from across the Range States jurisdictions. Please note that while efforts were made to summarize information accurately, harvest regimes can be complex, and all pertinent context and nuances may not be fully captured in this table. Detailed information regarding harvest regimes can be further examined through domestic publications of individual Range States.