MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1995 



On 31 August 1994 the Service responded to the 

 Commission's 18 July letter, endorsing the Commis- 

 sion's recommendation to convene a meeting of 

 interested groups to review U.S. implementation of 

 the 1973 Polar Bear Agreement and to use the legal 

 analysis prepared for the Commission as a basis for 

 the review. On 26-27 June 1995 the Service con- 

 vened a meeting to review U.S. implementation of the 

 Agreement in response to directives set forth in 

 section 113. The purpose of the meeting was to 

 discuss inconsistencies between the Agreement and the 

 Act and to identify additional measures that may be 

 necessary to fulfill requirements set forth in the 

 Agreement. Participants included representatives of 

 Service, the Marine Mammal Commission, the State 

 Department, the Alaska Nanuuq Commission, Alaska 

 Eskimo Walrus Commission, the Inuit Circumpolar 

 Conference, and the Department of the Interior's 

 Solicitor's Office. Meeting participants identified 

 some discrepancies between the two measures but 

 generally agreed that there was no need to open the 

 Agreement to modification. 



Subsequently the Service prepared a draft report 

 and circulated it to the meeting participants and the 

 Commission for comment. The Commission expects 

 to comment on the draft report early in 1996. A final 

 report will then be submitted to Congress. 



As noted above, section 113 also directs the 

 Secretary of the Interior to consult with contracting 

 parties to review the effectiveness of the 1973 Polar 

 Bear Agreement. At the end of 1995 the Commission 

 was not aware of any efforts taken by the Service to 

 convene a meeting of the parties to the Agreement or 

 otherwise to consult on its effectiveness. It should be 

 noted that, apparently independent of this require- 

 ment, the Task Force on Sustainable Development and 

 Utilization of the Arctic Environmental Protection 

 Strategy (which includes all parties to the Polar Bear 

 Agreement) has initiated a review of the Agreement as 

 it pertains to sustainable development in the Arctic. 

 This is discussed in the section on Arctic Environmen- 

 tal Protection Strategy, above. 



In its 18 July 1994 letter, mentioned above, the 

 Commission also commented on the requirement that 

 the Secretary consult with appropriate officials in the 

 Russian Federation to develop cooperative research 



and management programs for conserving polar bears 

 in Alaska and Russia. One of the three Commission- 

 ers then serving on the Marine Mammal Commission 

 is a resident of the State of Alaska and a recognized 

 authority on polar bears. The Commission recom- 

 mended that, to facilitate the Service's required 

 consultations with the Commission on these issues, the 

 Service keep the above-mentioned Commissioner fully 

 apprised in a timely fashion of all matters relating to 

 the review of the Agreement and that the Commis- 

 sioner be included as a member of the U.S. delegation 

 negotiating the bilateral agreement with Russia. 



In its 3 August 1994 response to the Commission, 

 the Service noted that it had begun discussions and 

 was continuing a dialogue with Russian counterparts 

 regarding development of the bilateral polar bear 

 agreement. The Service further noted that it fully 

 intended to keep the Commission apprised of activities 

 related to the review and preparation of draft docu- 

 ments. It also noted it had invited the Commissioner 

 to join the U.S. working group formulated to develop 

 draft documents and that a meeting was scheduled for 

 6-9 September 1994 in Nome, Alaska, with represen- 

 tatives of the Russian Federation. 



Bilateral Polar Bear Agreements 



As discussed in Chapter III, two discrete polar bear 

 populations occur in Alaska, and both are shared with 

 other countries. The northern (Beaufort Sea) popula- 

 tion is shared with Canada and the western (Bering- 

 Chukchi Seas) population is shared with Russia. 

 Efforts to develop cooperative programs with these 

 countries for the management and conservation of 

 polar bears are discussed below. 



Alaska/Inuvialuit Polar Bear Agreement — Prior 

 to passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 

 1972, both sport and subsistence hunting of polar 

 bears in Alaska was managed by the State. The Act 

 transferred management authority to the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, and exempted coastal Alaska Natives 

 from its moratorium on taking provided the taking is 

 non-wasteful and for subsistence or for making 

 authentic handicrafts or clothing. 



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