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Mi’kmaq Extend Cape Breton Moose Harvest Moratorium as Survey Estimate Remains Below Stated Sustainable-Harvest Range

Moose in Cape Breton Highlands National Park
Conservation · Management

The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs has extended its moratorium on the rights-based moose (Alces alces) harvest in Cape Breton for another year. The decision was announced on 22 July 2026 after recommendations from the Moose Management Committee and input from Mi’kmaw community members.

The 2025 aerial survey suggested partial recovery

The most recent aerial survey, conducted in 2025 across the five Cape Breton Moose Management Zones and Cape Breton Highlands National Park, estimated the population at about 1,900 moose. Survey crews flew lines across the landscape, recorded moose sightings and their positions, and used distance sampling to estimate animals that were likely missed farther from the flight lines rather than attempting to count every moose directly. That was higher than the roughly 835 estimated in 2024, and the survey also recorded more calves and bulls. Because both figures are survey estimates rather than exact counts, the difference should be read as evidence of recovery in the monitoring results rather than as a literal count of new animals. The Assembly’s update nevertheless cites a population of about 3,000–3,600 animals as the range needed before a harvest can be considered sustainable.

Mi’kmaw community discussions in 2026 considered both conservation concerns and the importance of moose as a food resource, including whether the population could support a limited harvest. After those discussions and the committee’s recommendations, the Assembly chose to continue prioritising population recovery rather than reopen the rights-based harvest this year.

The Mi’kmaq moratorium is separate from the provincial hunt

The Mi’kmaq moratorium applies to the rights-based harvest—constitutionally protected Mi’kmaq harvesting for food, social and ceremonial purposes—and is separate from Nova Scotia’s licensed moose hunt. The Province suspended the licensed Cape Breton hunt for three years in July 2024 after the population estimate had fallen sharply. Mi’kmaq leaders introduced their own moratorium at the same time, to remain in place until the population returned to a sustainable level. The July 2026 decision extends the Mi’kmaq-led moratorium; it does not change the provincial suspension.

Sources and image credit

  1. Moose Update – July 2026Primary official update announcing that the Assembly, following recommendations from the Moose Management Committee and community members, extended the Mi’kmaq rights-based moose harvest moratorium for another year.
  2. Moose Update – July 2026 (full update)Official full update used for the 2025 population estimate, signs of recovery and the stated population range associated with a sustainable harvest.
  3. Assembly Highlights – June 2026Official Assembly summary documenting the 24 June community moose webinar and discussion of conservation, food concerns and whether a controlled limited harvest could be supported in 2026.
  4. Temporary Suspension of Cape Breton Moose HuntOfficial provincial release used to distinguish the three-year suspension of the licensed Cape Breton hunt from the separate Mi’kmaq rights-based harvest moratorium.

Image: chensiyuan / Wikimedia Commons — wild moose in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia, Canada, photographed in 2009. Geographically representative image from the monitored Cape Breton area; not an identified animal from the 2025 survey. · CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Source

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