Canada Goose populations harvested in Eastern James Bay by Eeyou Istchee Cree hunters

Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) are an important wildlife food resource for Cree people living in communities along the James Bay coasts. According to Traditional Ecological Knowledge, environmental changes along the coast have affected hunting success. Also, changes in the relative abundance of different goose populations that use James Bay may affect hunting opportunities. The objective of our study was to use band recoveries to identify Canada Goose populations harvested by Eeyou Istchee Cree hunters in their Eastern James Bay territory between 2000 and 2020. A total of 744 band recoveries were reported including 198 from the Atlantic Population (AP), 82 from the Southern Hudson Bay Population (SHBP), 122 from the Atlantic Flyway Resident Population (AFRP), 339 from the Mississippi Flyway Giant Population (MFGP), and three that could not be assigned to a population. The percentage of banded geese that were recovered was three times greater for the AP than for the other three populations. Eighty-seven percent of recoveries were reported in spring and 72% were submitted by hunters from the two northern communities (Chisasibi and Wemindji). Most recoveries were reported from coastal hunting sites, but a greater proportion of banded geese of the AP were recovered inland compared to the other goose populations, an indication of their propensity to migrate inland. The most noticeable change in the goose harvest compared to the 1970s was the rapid increase of molt migrant temperate-breeding geese of the AFRP and MFGP. In addition to environmental changes along the James Bay east coast, changes in the relative abundance of each goose population may affect hunting success because each population is differently susceptible to hunting within the territory due to differences in migratory behavior. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of band recoveries in tracking these changes and we therefore encourage agencies to maintain banding programs and Cree hunters to report their recovered bands