Chapter n — Species of Special Concern 



specific polar bear interaction plans; (2) encourage an 

 appropriate industry group to seek an exemption, 

 pursuant to section 101(a)(5) of the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act, to allow the incidental take of small 

 numbers of polar bears in the process of implementing 

 approved interaction plans; (3) identify and, with the 

 Minerals Management Service and the Alaska Depart- 

 ment of Fish and Game, cooperatively carry out or 

 support such additional research and monitoring 

 programs as necessary to evaluate the relative merits 

 of possible detection and deterrence systems, and to 

 better determine important polar bear denning areas 

 and how such areas and the bears denning in them 

 may be affected by construction and operation of 

 facilities nearby; and (4) if it had not already been 

 done, work with the Minerals Management Service, 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Coast 

 Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, and 

 relevant State agencies to (a) include in oil spill 

 contingency plans specific measures for assessing and 

 minimizing the impact of possible oil spills on polar 

 bears, and (b) develop a program to assess and 

 monitor the levels of anthropogenic hydrocarbons and 

 other possible contaminants present in polar bears and 

 other components of the ecosystem of which they are 

 a part. 



The Commission also recommended that the Fish 

 and Wildlife Service take such steps as necessary, 

 including promulgating regulations or seeking domes- 

 tic implementing legislation, to give full effect to the 

 provisions of the International Agreement on the 

 Conservation of Polar Bears described above. In this 

 regard, the Commission noted that, in some cases, oil 

 and gas development and other activities in Alaska 

 may be inconsistent with Article 11 of the Agreement 

 which, as noted above, specifies that the Parties "shall 

 take appropriate actions to protect the ecosystems of 

 which polar bears are a part, with special attention to 

 habitat components such as denning and feeding 

 sites...." 



On 11 June 1991, the Fish and Wildlife Service 

 responded to the Commission's 28 December 1990 

 letter. The Service noted that it anticipated that the 

 regulations being developed to give effect to section 

 101(a)(5) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (see 

 the discussion in Chapter Vm) would require develop- 

 ment and approval of site-specific interaction plans as 



one of the requirements for obtaining letters of au- 

 thorization allowmg the take of polar bears incidental 

 to oil and gas activities. The Service also noted that 

 the oil and gas industry had been very cooperative in 

 responding to recommendations concerning develop- 

 ment and implementation of polar bear interaction 

 plans. 



The Service indicated that it shared die Commis- 

 sion's view that regulations or implementing legis- 

 lation were required to give full effect to the Inter- 

 national Agreement on the Conservation of Polar 

 Bears. 



Development of a 



Polar Bear Conservation Plan 



As discussed in Chapter VII, the 1988 amendments 

 to the Marine Mammal Protection Act directed the 

 Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce to develop 

 conservation plans for depleted and, when appropri- 

 ate, non-depleted marine mammal species and popula- 

 tions. As noted in the previous Annual Report, the 

 Commission wrote to the Fish and Wildlife Service on 

 11 January 1989 suggesting that the Service prepare 

 conservation plans for walruses, polar bears, and sea 

 otters. The Commission pointed out that much of the 

 needed background work had been done and was 

 published in Marine Mammals in Alaska: Species 

 Accounts with Research and Management Recommen- 

 dations (see Appendix B, Lentfer 1988). 



The Service's 3 March 1989 response to the 

 Commission's letter indicated that it concurred and 

 had initiated development of a walrus management 

 plan, and intended to begin work on plans for polar 

 bears and sea otters in the near future. As noted in 

 Chapter VII, however, the Exxon Valdez oil spill 

 caused personnel and funding to be diverted to assess- 

 ing and attempting to mitigate the impacts of the spill. 



As noted in Chapter VII, this and related matters 

 were discussed with representatives of the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service during the meeting of the Commis- 

 sion and its Committee of Scientific Advisors in 

 Bellevue, Washington, on 25-27 April 1991. At that 

 meeting, the Commission offered to provide assistance 

 in developing draft plans that then could be used by 



49 



