Changes to wolverine trapping season

The public is invited to comment on the proposed trapping regulation described below.

Status: Proposed

Region: Region 6, Skeena

Management unit (MU): Region-wide

Regulation type: Trapping

Species: Wolverine

Closing date: February 13, 2026 at 4:30 pm PT

Current regulation:

Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis (PDF, 13MB) page 76:

Proposed regulation:

Reduce the wolverine trapping season dates in most Skeena MUs to November 1 to January 31.

This draft proposal is being shared to explore potential changes to wolverine trapping seasons in the Skeena. The Skeena Wildlife team received little feedback on its initial engagement and is seeking additional review and comment. At this stage, we are seeking input from the hunting and trapping community and other land users to better understand the range of perspectives, values, and concerns. Your feedback will help clarify uncertainties and guide whether and how this proposal should move forward in a formal capacity.

Rationale:

Some wolverine populations in the Skeena Region may have sustained multiple years of overharvest in certain wildlife management units (given current data available) and there is concern for the level of female wolverine harvest before they are able to give birth. 

Wolverines are the largest terrestrial member of the weasel family in the Skeena Region and a valuable furbearer to First Nations, trappers and hunters. Wolverines are a species of special concern, with one of the largest threats to their populations being overharvest by trapping. February is an important month as pregnant female wolverines start selecting their natal dens, dens where they will give birth and nurse wolverine kits (juveniles).

A tool to reduce risk of overharvest of wolverine includes strategies to help protect female wolverines from sources of harvest. The proposed regulation change will reduce the wolverine season dates to November 1 to January 31 for most Skeena MUs, with a goal of reducing the potential of female wolverine harvest, especially the harvest of females that are pregnant or caring for kits in February. As Skeena Region biologists continue to address the data gap for wolverines in the region, this regulation change will provide initial benefits to wolverine populations while maintaining trapping opportunity.

Data suggests that approximately 78% of wolverines harvest occurs before February.

Wolverines are highly sensitive to environmental change, making them particularly vulnerable to cumulative pressures. In the Skeena Region, primary factors such as pressure from harvest, habitat degradation and fragmentation, human disturbance and climate change have their own unique impacts on wolverines. Taken together, these factors have direct and indirect impacts on wolverine mortality, and in certain cases, some of these factors can amplify the other factors’ effects.

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