Chapter VI — The Arctic 



might have been taken by traditional means at the time 

 the agreement was negotiated and compare that to 

 where sport hunts now occur. 



Article II of the agreement requires each party to 

 take appropriate action to protect the ecosystem of 

 which polar bears are a part and to manage polar bear 

 populations in accordance with sound conservation 

 practices based on the best available scientific data. 

 In its letter the Commission stated that it believed that 

 the Canadian polar bear program is generally sound 

 and satisfies the requirements of Article II. However, 

 the Commission suggested that it is also necessary to 

 make a related finding of conformity with a resolution 

 adopted by the parties in 1973 to ban the hunting of 

 female polar bears with cubs and their cubs and to 

 prohibit the hunting of polar bears in denning areas. 



In its letter, the Commission pointed out that 

 Article IV of the agreement requires the parties to 

 prohibit the use of aircraft and large motorized vessels 

 for the purpose of taking polar bears, except where 

 the application of such a prohibition would be incon- 

 sistent with domestic laws. The Service's Federal 

 Register notice indicated that "[a]ircraft, snow ma- 

 chines, and boats are sometimes used to transport 

 equipment, hunters, and dogs to base camps which 

 can be a great distance from the community." 



The Commission noted that it agreed that use of 

 aircraft and vessels may be consistent with the treaty. 

 However, it stated that the Federal Register discussion 

 did not clearly explain why Canada and the Service 

 have concluded that the stated use of aircraft to 

 transport equipment, etc., to base camps is consistent 

 with Article IV. In the Commission's opinion, the 

 use of airplanes to identify base camp locations with 

 high polar bear densities or otherwise to assist in 

 locating or taking bears would run afoul of the treaty 

 provisions, as would using aircraft to gain access to 

 areas that would not have been hunted traditionally. 

 Therefore, the Commission recommended that the 

 Service in the final rule provide more information on 

 how aircraft are used in the hunting of polar bears and 

 better explain the rationale for its view that such use 

 is consistent with the international Agreement on the 

 Conservation of Polar Bears. 



With regard to the 1973 resolution, mentioned 

 above, to ban the hunting of cubs and female polar 

 bears with cubs and to prohibit the hunting of polar 

 bears in denning areas, the Commission noted that 

 these prohibitions are considered by some to be non- 

 binding on the parties. Nevertheless, the prohibitions 

 fit within the purposes of the agreement and should be 

 considered as sound conservation practices under 

 Article II. Therefore, the Commission stated, the 

 Service's proposal is correct not to approve the 

 importation of trophies taken from any population/ 

 management unit unless adequate provisions are in 

 place to prohibit the taking of cubs and females with 

 cubs and to protect all polar bears in or moving into 

 denning areas. 



Finding on Scientific Soundness - As noted 

 above, before the Service can authorize the importa- 

 tion of polar bear trophies from Canada, it must 

 determine that Canada has a sport hunting program 

 based on scientifically sound quotas ensuring the 

 maintenance of the affected population stock at a 

 sustainable level. The alternatives considered by the 

 Service are whether this provision requires the Service 

 to make the findings based on one population for the 

 whole of Canada or on the 12 units under which 

 Canada has been managing polar bears. 



In the Commission's opinion, the Service's discus- 

 sion of possible interpretations of section 

 104(c)(5)(A)(ii) apparently failed to consider the 

 statutory definition of the term "population stock." 

 The Commission therefore recommended that the 

 Service provide additional justification in the final rule 

 for the determination that the 12 management units 

 used by Canada constitute separate population stocks 

 as defined in the Act. If there is any doubt concern- 

 ing what constitutes a separate population, the Com- 

 mission suggested that the Service should interpret the 

 available information conservatively. 



In its comments, the Commission further suggested 

 that the Service factor into its determinations the 

 status and trends of polar bears in adjacent man- 

 agement units. In particular, it should be recognized 

 that splitting a discrete, naturally occurring population 

 into smaller sub-units could lead to an affirmative 

 finding for one or more sub-units that would not be 

 reached if the population were considered as a whole. 



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