OTTAWA, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Canadian Inuit say they're considering suing the Canadian government for banning the export of tusks from narwhal whales, depriving the Inuit of income.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans told officials in the territory of Nunavut earlier this week the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora meant Canada had no choice but to impose the ban, Postmedia News reported.


Inuit hunters were exporting the long, hard spiked tusk of the narwhal abroad, where they are used by ivory carvers to make canes and decorations, the report said. Some can grow longer than 10 feet.

Several hundred tusks a year were being exported, attracting as much as $2,000 each. One sold for more than $16,000 at a U.S. auction in 2006.

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., a company that represents Inuit native rights, said it was "considering legal options" over the ban.

NTI president Cathy Towtongie said in a statement the narwhal "population is thriving, and harvest numbers do not threaten the species."