Inuit around southern Hudson Bay in Canada have agree to scale back polar bear hunt quotas voluntarily, but still disagree with biologists with why the reductions were necessary, reports the CBC.
Biologists have said that though bear populations in the region are stable now, diminishing sea ice is already harming them. "The bears get in poorer condition over time. They get a bit smaller. Then what you tend to see is reproduction and survival rates tend to decline. Then the population declines," University of Alberta biologist Andrew Derocher told the CBC.
Meanwhile First Nations groups say they are seeing more bears: "We keep saying there's too many bears out there but the biologists don't seem to understand that," one leader said.
But the real reason they agreed to cut back on the hunt was concern over the Canada's image abroad -- especially in the United States -- and the possibility that could lead to further restrictions, such as ban on exporting polar bear skins.
The U.S. -- where the bears are listed as threatened -- already prohibits importing them, and has pushed efforts for international import/export bans on polar bear parts, the CBC notes.