MONTREAL — The Atlantic walrus, the iconic buck-toothed mammal of the Canadian north, is declining in numbers, says a group of Canadian scientists.

Walrus, which once roamed beaches as far south as Nova Scotia and Massachusetts, should be designated a species of special concern, according to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.

"We're concerned that the population is low," said Andrew Trites, a University of British Columbia biologist and co-chairman of the committee's marine mammals group.

"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.

Global warming is not the culprit but will make things worse, Trites said.

Atlantic walrus were once heavily hunted for their skins, blubber and ivory tusks and were hunted to extinction in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

"So we know that they're a species that are vulnerable to being overhunted," Trites said.

Commercial hunting of walrus stopped in Canada in 1931 but continues in Greenland. Subsistence hunting by Inuit continues in both countries.

No management plans are currently in place.

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 the ivory gull, a white, pigeon-like seabird that breeds on Arctic coasts and cliffs, be designated an endangered species, along with the white shark.

Many of the world's sharks have declined in numbers, mainly because of overfishing, and the committee has recommended the shortfin mako be considered threatened and the blue shark listed a special concern.

Destruction of sand dune habitats in Western Canada also led the committee to add Ord's kangaroo rat, the burrowing owl and the gold-edged gem moth to the endangered list.

The scientists also recommended the golden-winged warbler, whose numbers have declined throughout North America, be listed as threatened.

The committee will submit its report to Environment Minister Rona Ambrose in August.

It will be up to Ambrose whether to follow the recommendations, which would offer the species protection 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.

Efforts to get comment from the minister's office on the recommendations or the future of the species legislation were unsuccessful.

"Whatever they intend to do, they certainly should do nothing to weaken the process," Hutchings said.

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.

But there was some good news out of the committee's annual gathering.

The red-shouldered hawk was downgraded from a special concern to not at risk, while the aweme borer, a moth not seen in Canada for 70 years, was reportedly rediscovered on Manitoulin Island, Ont.