On 21 December 1987, the Alaska Department of Fish and 

 Game wrote to the Commission advising it that another series 

 of 17 public meetings had been completed on polar bear, walrus, 

 and sea otter, three species being considered as the possible 

 focus of a more limited request for management authority. 

 Twelve other meetings with various agencies, organizations, 

 and interest groups were also held to discuss what was under 

 consideration, to identify major concerns about management of 

 marine mammals in Alaska, and to exchange views with Alaskans 

 interested in the issue. At year's end, the State was compiling 

 and evaluating the information obtained through this process 

 and, in early 1988, the Department will make a recommendation 

 to the Governor of Alaska as to whether an application for 

 return of management should be submitted. 



Report of the Special Advisor on Native Affairs 



The Marine Mammal Protection Act recognizes that marine 

 mammals play an important role in the cultural and subsis- 

 tence needs of Alaska Natives. Further, it calls on the Marine 

 Mammal Commission to take such steps "as it deems necessary 

 or desirable to further the policies of this Act, including 

 provisions for the protection of the Indians, Eskimos, and 

 Aleuts whose livelihood may be adversely affected by actions 

 taken pursuant to this Act . " 



Following a series of meetings with interested persons 

 in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Nome, the Commission, on 

 3 September 1987, asked Mr. Matthew Iya, Special Advisor to 

 the Marine Mammal Commission on Native Affairs, to prepare a 

 report describing: the number of Alaska Natives and Native 

 communities that are to some extent dependent on marine mammals 

 to meet subsistence needs; the numbers of marine mammals needed 

 to meet the subsistence needs of Natives; traditional subsis- 

 tence uses of marine mammals by Alaska Natives in terms of 

 type and quantity; factors that may prevent Natives from taking 

 the species and numbers of marine mammals that they consider 

 necessary to meet their subsistence and related needs (e.g., 

 regulations, offshore oil and gas development, coastal develop- 

 ment) ; terms for either cooperative programs or changes in 

 State or Federal laws or regulations that would better ensure 

 that Native subsistence and related needs are met, while safe- 

 guarding the well-being of affected marine mammal populations; 

 and such legislative language and supporting rationale as the 

 Native communities consider appropriate for amendments, if 

 any, to the Marine Mammal Protection Act. 



Recognizing that the consultations necessary to do such 

 a report would require extensive travel, the Commission also 

 made money available to support the travel of the Special 

 Advisor to meet with informed persons throughout the State. 



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