Wildlife Conservation: Maximum Sustainable Yield and Indigenizing Moose Management

Vocabulary flashcards covering ecological concepts of Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (NAM), and the Anishnabe-led moose management case study in La Verendrye Park.

North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (NAM)

A prevailing wildlife management framework used by federal, provincial, and state agencies that relies on public trust, government trusteeship, and seven established tenets to curb overexploitation through science-based regulations.

Indigenous-Led Conservation (ILC)

A conservation approach grounded in long-standing relationships with land, animals, food, kinship, and place, guided by intergenerational knowledge and Indigenous law and governance rather than a single standardized model.

Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY)

The highest theoretical equilibrium yield or largest average harvest that can be continuously taken from a stock under existing environmental conditions without significantly impairing its reproduction.

Logistic Growth

A population growth model where populations increase proportional to biomass, but the rate of increase slows as the population approaches carrying capacity ($K$), reaching maximum production at half of carrying capacity.

Carrying Capacity ($K$)

The maximum stock biomass or population size that a given environment can naturally support and sustain over time.

Graham’s Theory of Sustainable Fishing (1935)

A resource management theory stating that fisheries are sustainable if annual removals are replaced by annual stock production, with the greatest sustainable yield achieved when stock biomass is kept at half of its carrying capacity ($K/2$).

Biomass at MSY ($X_{MSY}$)

The stock size at which population growth and sustainable yield reach their theoretical peak, mathematically defined in a logistic growth model as $X_{MSY} = \frac{K}{2}$.

Steady-State Equilibrium

A management state where the rate of harvest ($Y = F(X)$) exactly balances the natural rate of stock growth, maintaining a constant biomass level ($X$).

Fishing Pressure ($F$)

The overall quantity of harvesting effort—such as boats, hooks, and nets—exerted on a target fish population.

Two-Eyed Seeing

A guiding principle within the Indigenizing North American Model (I-NAM) direction where Indigenous knowledge systems and Western science coexist and inform wildlife governance collaboratively.

Anti-Commercialization Ethic

A foundational tenet of conventional NAM that eliminates commercial trade in harvested wildlife, contrasted in I-NAM by the recognition of culturally significant trade and reciprocity compatible with ecological sustainability.

Continuous Learning and Improvement

The proposed eighth tenet added to the original seven tenets of wildlife conservation in the Indigenizing North American Model (I-NAM) framework.

Hudson Bay Wampum Belt

A historic treaty agreement recorded in wampum that established environmental restrictions prohibiting settlers from harvesting more than one species of tree or digging deeper than three feet.

Wampum Belts

Traditional beaded records used in original Anishnabe governance to document significant historical events, laws, and bilateral agreements.

Anishnabe Moose Research Committee

A research group established in December 2021 and coordinated by Waba Moko (Shannon Chief) to assess moose health and develop an Anishnabe-led management plan in and around La Verendrye Park, Quebec.

La Verendrye Wildlife Reserve

A protected park territory in Quebec where Anishnabe land users and Elders documented marked declines in moose over a 15-year period, prompting a temporary moratorium on sport hunting.

Winter Ticks

A parasite identified in Anishnabe community surveys and workshops as the most widely reported physical health issue affecting local moose populations.

Hereditary Land Stewards

Traditional land caretakers recognized within Anishnabe governance structures as the primary decision-makers regarding territorial access and resource harvest quotas.

Reparative Justice (in Moose Governance)

A community-centered justice framework proposed by the Anishnabe Moose Research Committee to address hunting infractions and over-harvesting through restoration rather than standard punitive enforcement.

SEPAQ

The Quebec government wildlife and park agency (Société des établissements de plein air du Québec) where Anishnabe recommendations call for establishing Indigenous Employee Liaison positions and providing education on traditional protocols.