Narwhal  (Monodon monoceros)

Hunted by the Inuit as a subsistence food, narwhals are also hunted for their ivory tusks which are sold as curios or to be carved. The price of narwhal ivory has increased significantly since the 1970s and continues to rise. Narwhals are also susceptible to climate fluctuations and long-term climate change, and as pack ice recedes, their range declines. Narwhals are known to have been trapped under fast-forming ice, preventing them from forming a breathing hole (3).

In 1976 the Narwhal Protection Regulations were produced as part of the Canadian Fisheries Act. It contained legislation that required fishing to be limited to quotas, conferring total protection onto mothers and calves, requiring that full use be made of narwhal carcasses, and requiring the full labelling of every tusk obtained. However, these regulations are sometimes poorly enforced. The narwhal is protected in the United States, although the Inuit are exempt from these laws for subsistence hunting only. It is fully protected in Russia and Norway (3), and quotas limit the catch in west Greenland (8). Laws requiring the declaration of narwhal catch, both intentional and by-catch, are necessary throughout this species' range (3).