“That’s how we know they’re healthy”: the inclusion of traditional ecological knowledge in beluga health monitoring in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) from the Eastern Beaufort Sea (EBS) population are harvested annually in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) during their seasonal migration past coastal communities and harvest camps. The beluga harvest monitoring program is a flagship program of the ISR’s Fish and Marine Mammal Community Monitoring Program, and it has provided critical information about beluga health and observed changes in the EBS population. This study aimed to develop a suite of local indicators of beluga health that bridged traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) about beluga condition, illness, and disease, with western science through the co-production of knowledge. Community members from Inuvik, Paulatuk, and Tuktoyaktuk with beluga harvesting and preparation experience were engaged to characterize beluga health from an Inuvialuit perspective. Inuvialuit knowledge about the environment and beluga health, values about hunting beluga, and Inuvialuit cosmology — the foundation of the knowledge system — were documented through semi-structured questionnaires (n = 66), semi-structured interviews (n = 78), and focus group meetings (n = 3). This research furthers our understanding of how Inuvialuit view beluga health from the physical and behavioural characteristics of belugas, values, and appropriate behaviours by harvesters and how observations made about beluga can be explained. To support the co-production of knowledge, a suite of local indicators was developed that bridged TEK about beluga condition, illness, and disease with western science.