Background

• Newfoundland and Labrador are the only areas in North America where murres can be legally hunted by non-Aboriginal peoples.
• The murre harvest is also significant to the First Nations Innu and Inuit of Labrador.
• Murre hunting is a significant traditional/cultural, as well as recreational, activity.
• Prior to season length and bag limits set by the Canadian Wildlife Service in 1993, the annual harvest of murres in Newfoundland and Labrador reached levels that exceeded the harvests of any other waterfowl species in any other jurisdiction in North America.
• Beginning in 2001, murre hunters were required to purchase murre hunting licenses issued in Newfoundland and Labrador, validated by the Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp.
• In 2005, Wildlife Habitat Canada, the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Environment Canada and the Newfoundland and Labrador Legacy Nature Trust agreed to use the revenues from the sale of Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamps to murre hunters to establish a Newfoundland and Labrador Murre Conservation Fund.
• The Newfoundland and Labrador Legacy Nature Trust administers the Murre Conservation Fund.
• Operation of the Murre Conservation Fund is led by the Newfoundland and Labrador Murre Conservation Fund Committee. The Committee is comprised of five voting members, including representatives from Wildlife Habitat Canada; Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service; the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Department of Environment and Conservation; the Murre Advisory Group, and the academic community. A representative of the Newfoundland and Labrador Legacy Nature Trust will have non-voting observer status on the Committee.
• The Murre Conservation Fund will provide funding for programs and projects that will introduce youth and/or the general public of Newfoundland and Labrador to the conservation, management and traditional uses of murres.

Specific Results to be Supported by WHC's Contributions

• The Fund will provide funding to programs and projects that will enhance the conservation and management of murre populations and their habitat, including:
  •  Assessments of murre breeding populations, productivity,  survival, harvests and other mortality factors.
  •  Projects that focus on long term conservation of high
     quality habitat, particularly that which is vulnerable.
• To be eligible to receive a grant from the Murre Conservation Fund, the project must meet the criteria for current priority program areas and an applicant must complete and submit a proposal application form to the Newfoundland and Labrador Legacy Nature Trust between September 1st and November 30th.

Wetland Habitat and/or Waterfowl Achievements/Benefits
The funding of programs and projects that address priority program areas will enhance murre populations and habitats in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Relevance to Habitat Planning, Decision Making and/or Management
The Murre Conservation Fund will support programs and projects in Newfoundland and Labrador that will enhance murre management and protection to help ensure a sustainable murre population.

Project Location
Newfoundland and Labrador

Project Contact
For more information on this project, please contact Tammy Baldwin, Executive Director, Newfoundland and Labrador Legacy Nature Trust, St. John's, Newfoundland.