In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the combined 'takes' by Greenland and Canadian Inuit reached as much as 2,000 animals a year. Presently the number of narwhals killed and landed is between 700 and 1,100 animals annually; more are killed but sink before they can be retrieved.
The two discrete stocks of narwhals, to the west and east of Greenland, total between 24,000 and 30,000 animals. The western stock may presently be over-exploited.