Chapter VI — The Arctic 



Commission advised the Service of its conclusion, 

 noting that the September meeting was an important 

 step forward and congratulating the U.S. delegation 

 for its accomplishments. In view of the need for 

 further work and plans for a joint meeting in 1996, 

 the Commission also noted its interest in remaining 

 involved in the development and negotiation of the 

 walrus agreements and asked to be advised of the 

 steps and schedule to be followed in drafting the text 

 of the bilateral walrus agreement and in preparing for 

 the next meeting. As of the end of 1995 the Commis- 

 sion had not yet received a reply to its letter. 



The Bering Sea Ecosystem 



Since the mid-1970s there have been alarming 

 declines in populations of northern fur seals, Steller 

 sea lions, harbor seals, and several species of fish- 

 eating birds in parts of the Bering Sea and Gulf of 

 Alaska. The nature and magnitude of the fur seal, sea 

 lion, and harbor seal declines are described in the 

 species discussions in Chapter III. 



The causes of the declines are uncertain and, as 

 noted in previous reports, the Commission and the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service jointly sponsored a 

 workshop in December 1990 to identify the critical 

 uncertainties and the research that would be required 

 to resolve them. A related workshop was held by the 

 Alaska Sea Grant College Program in March 1991. 

 Participants in both workshops noted that the harbor 

 seal and Steller sea lion declines were continuing and 

 appeared to be food-related. They also noted that 

 available data were insufficient to determine whether 

 the apparent declines in food availability were a 

 product of natural environmental cycles or change, a 

 consequence of the pollock fishery that had developed 

 since the late 1960s, or some combination of these or 

 other factors. 



The participants in the December 1990 workshop 

 noted that potentially relevant data were being collect- 

 ed and archived by many government agencies and 

 universities, but that the data often were difficult to 

 locate and access. Among other things, they recom- 

 mended development of a common data management 

 system to facilitate archiving, accessing, mapping, and 



integrating marine mammal, seabird, fish, fishery, 

 environmental, and other data concerning the Bering 

 Sea and Gulf of Alaska (see Appendix B, Swartzman 

 and Hofman 1991). 



In partial response to this recommendation, the 

 Commission contracted for a study in 1992 to deter- 

 mine the types of data relevant to the conservation of 

 marine mammals in the Bering Sea and adjacent areas 

 that are being collected and archived by different 

 agencies and institutions and how those data are being 

 archived and can be accessed (see Appendix B, 

 Hoover-Miller 1992). In 1993 the Commission 

 provided support for a workshop to determine what 

 might be done to improve access to and use of such 

 data. The workshop was held in Anchorage, Alaska, 

 on 5-7 April 1994. Participants included scientists 

 and data managers from the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. 

 Geological Survey, the Minerals Management Service, 

 the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the Alaska 

 Department of Natural Resources, the Natural Heri- 

 tage Program, the Florida Department of Environmen- 

 tal Protection, the University of Alaska, the Universi- 

 ty of Washington, and Oregon State University. 



Following the workshop, the contractor held a 

 number of small group meetings to determine how the 

 workshop recommendations might best be implement- 

 ed. One of the products of these meetings was 

 establishment of the Alaska Marine Resource Informa- 

 tion Network at the University of Alaska, School of 

 Fisheries and Sciences, in Fairbanks. The network 

 helps individuals from Federal, state, and private 

 organizations locate and exchange information regard- 

 ing Alaska marine resources. 



The report from the April 1994 workshop was 

 completed and published in March 1995 (see Appen- 

 dix B, Hoover-Miller 1995). Copies were provided 

 to the workshop participants and to agencies responsi- 

 ble for conserving marine mammals and their habitat 

 in Alaska. 



Development of a Coordinated Studies Plan 



The 1994 amendments to the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act directed that the Secretary of Com- 

 merce, in consultation with the Secretary of the 



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