The Atlantic walrus should be declared a "species of concern" because hunting has reduced its numbers so much that the species is now threatened.
"We're concerned that the population is low," said Andrew Trites, a University of Columbia biologist and co-chairman of the scientific Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. "There's evidence that it's declined over time and that levels of hunting may not be sustainable."
In its annual report released this month, the committee said the walrus is close to qualifying for threatened status.
The committee plans to submit its recommendations in August to federal Environment Minister Rona Ambrose, who can choose to protect threatened animals by listing them under federal species at risk legislation.
"It's been somewhat difficult to predict how ministers will respond to our recommendations," said Jeffrey Hutchings, committee chairman.
A declaration of concern is basically an early warning sign that a species needs watching. Other levels include threatened, endangered and extinct.
The walrus once roamed beaches as far south as Nova Scotia and Massachusetts. But they have been hunted to extinction in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Commercial hunting was banned in Canada in 1931, but Inuit are still allowed to collect the animals.
Joe Tigullaraq, head of the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, said the board has not yet taken a position on the listing.
"Hunters have not indicated whether the populations are going up, going down or staying the same," Tigullaraq said. "If they were going down, we would certainly hear from our harvesters, but we haven't."
Trites said the Inuit are key to a healthy future for the walrus. "There is no single person that is taking too many. The problem is that, collectively, it all adds up to a lot of walrus."
The committee also recommended that the ivory gull and the white shark be designated as endangered, while the shortfin mako shark be considered threatened and the blue shark listed as of special concern.
The committee added Ord's kangaroo rat, the burrowing owl and the gold-edged gem moth to the endangered list because of the loss of sand dune habitats in Western Canada. The golden-winged warbler should be listed as threatened because its numbers have declined throughout North America.
The committee now lists 529 species in various risk categories, including 209 endangered and 135 threatened. Twenty-two species have been extirpated in the wild in Canada and 13 are extinct.
The committee did have some good news, Canadian Press said. The red-shouldered hawk was moved from special-concern to not-at-risk, while the aweme borer moth was rediscovered on Manitoulin Island, Ont., its first sighting in 70 years.