An animal-rights group is calling for the cancellation of the spring Grizzly hunt after what they say is an unprecedented decline in bear numbers.

Ian McAllister, conservation director of Pacific Wild, said the most recent government statistics show the Grizzly population living in the Kimsquit drainage area on the north coast is in rough shape with 50 per cent fewer bears than average and 65 per cent fewer cubs.

“The province should have taken action earlier,” McAllister said on Tuesday. “They took a wait-and-see approach but this is clearly a conservation issue that deserves some action from the province.

“They should cancel the spring hunt — there is far too much uncertainty with salmon stocks right now. We have to be more pro-active in how we manage wildlife.”

McAllister attributed the decline in numbers to a lower-than-average number of salmon in 2008 and an unseasonably colder and longer winter.

He added the salmon forecasts for next summer are supposed to be even lower meaning Victoria should be ready with an emergency recovery plan.

Tom Ethier, director of the fish and wildlife branch of the Ministry of the Environment, said this is the 11th year the Grizzly population in the Kimsquit has been monitored.

Twenty-three bears were seen, lower than the annual average of 38.

There were seven females with cubs seen — lower than the annual average of 20.

“There is no evidence to support a Grizzly bear die-off — they may be elsewhere,” Ethier said. “It does appear cub production was off possibly due to the salmon.”

Jacques Drisdelle, provincial program co-ordinator for Bear Aware, said he’d like to see more scientific data and called Pacific Wild’s claims “sheer speculation” at this point.

“One year doesn’t make a decade — there are all kinds of possibilities and reasons for it,” Drisdelle said.

“I have never seen so many Grizzlies at higher elevations than I did this year — something has happened, maybe there has been a displacement. It is a bit of a mystery right now.”

Ethier said there are no plans to cancel upcoming Grizzly trophy hunts.

“I still believe the hunt is sustainable,” Ethier said. “The actual harvest of Grizzly bears in this province is very well-controlled.”

Fifteen Grizzlies were killed on the north coast for trophy hunting and about 300 in total last year, according to Ethier. There were 317 Grizzlies killed for trophy hunting in 2008 — 218 by residents and 99 by non-residents — and 365 Grizzlies killed in 2007.

There are between 13,000 and18,000 Grizzly bears in B.C. and about 80,000 to 100,000 black bears.

The Guide Outfitters Association of B.C., which represents about 230 outfits, estimates bear hunting brings in $120 million annually with $2.5 million generated from Grizzly hunts, which can charge around $20,000 per trip.