Outfitters hurting industry: wildlife writer

A court case in Happy Valley-Goose Bay is raising concerns about the big game outfitting industry.

Hundreds of people travel to Labrador every year to hunt caribou.

Many of them sign up with outfitters who practically guarantee successful kills.

But an American hunter filed a complaint that led to seven wildlife charges against Jim Hudson and his outfitting company, Torngat Wilderness Adventures Ltd.

In court this week, Fred Baldwin testified that he saw a hunter perched on the pontoon of Hudson's taxiing float plane shoot a caribou swimming in a lake.

Baldwin, who writes for American hunting magazines, has been writing articles about the ethical practices of some outfitters in Labrador and Quebec.

"There was too much focus on the 100 per cent harvest… everyone shoots two caribou and that's not why we were here. There was no focus on the experience of the hunt."

Hudson's Web site claims a 97 per cent success rate, and other outfitters make similar boasts.

• Tourism Department Web site: Hunting in Labrador

Baldwin says sportsmanship and the spirit of the hunt is becoming a lost cause in Labrador.

"I say this from having talked with several hunters in the subsequent two years who have had bad experiences in Quebec and in Labrador with their outfitters. I think it's become too much the norm," he says.

Goodie Hutchings of the provincial outfitters association admits some outfitters break the law. She says the province should change the way it regulates the outfitting industry.

"The licence that you'd have to be an operator in outfitting is the same as a motel or a bed and breakfast," Hutchings says. "It's about time that we had a little more specific outfitter's licence."

Testimony in Hudson's case is expected to continue this week.