Inuit food security in canada: arctic marine ethnoecology

Quantitative Seascape Ethnoecology practice is considered through a community-based food security lens. Fish and marine mammal records obtained from a wide range of Inuit co-management agreements are, for the first time combined to calculate an Inuit-culture marine ecological footprint, targeted on calendar year 2008. A reflexive, participatory and inclusive education/governance strategy for Arctic coastal food security is presented, particularly in Nunavut; considering caloric marine catch may average as high as 40% of human basal metabolic requirements for some communities. The current work provides a foundation to mitigate food insecurity for the Inuit in what may be the most insecure indigenous food setting in any country that is generally considered as developed. Four large marine ecosystems are considered within Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) areas 18 and 21. Initial fish catch reconstructions for 1950–2001 are combined with mammal harvest records. Food system changes and planning are examined from a community health and management perspective. The relationship between food security, gender, livelihoods and ecosystem capacity are discussed within current management challenges and the related mandates for Canadian government agencies, based in part upon the 2007, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). A process to combine academic ecological knowledge with traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and an Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) is suggested within a beneficiary-led marine protected area network. A re-evaluation of Canada’s northern (Nunavut) transfer and land claim agreements are suggested, with a goal to provide redress for UNDRIP compliance. Therein, consideration should be given to dedicated funds for reflexive and participatory development of university-level Ethnoecology programming and community-based offices for Nunavut food security science.