Chapter VI — The Arctic 



When the Agreement was concluded, the parties also 

 adopted a resolution banning the hunting of polar bear 

 cubs, female bears with cubs, and bears moving into 

 denning areas or in dens. 



As noted above, the Polar Bear Agreement requires 

 contracting parties to focus special attention on 

 protecting important components of polar bear habitat, 

 such as denning and feeding sites and migration 

 routes. Steps taken by the Fish and Wildlife Service 

 to meet this requirement are described in Chapter XI 

 in the discussion of small-take exemptions. These 

 steps include the preparation of a polar bear habitat 

 conservation strategy. 



As discussed in previous annual reports, the 

 Marine Mammal Commission and others have ques- 

 tioned whether the Marine Mammal Protection Act or 

 other domestic statutes provide sufficient legal authori- 

 ty for the United States to fully implement the Agree- 

 ment, particularly as it relates to habitat protection. 

 In 1992 the Commission contracted for an examina- 

 tion of the relevant provisions of the Agreement, the 

 Marine Mammal Protection Act, and other domestic 

 legislation to identify possible inconsistencies and 

 provide suggestions as to how provisions of the 

 Agreement and the Act might be reconciled. The 

 contractor's report, Reconciling the Legal Mechanisms 

 To Protect and Manage Polar Bears under United 

 States Law and the Agreement for the Conservation of 

 Polar Bears (see Appendix B, Baur 1995), was 

 provided to the Commission in December 1993, and 

 in January 1994 the Commission forwarded the 

 report to the Fish and Wildlife Service. 



In light of amendments to the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act enacted in 1994 and discussed below, 

 the Commission asked the contractor to revise the 

 report. This revision, completed in August 1995, was 

 provided to the Fish and Wildlife Service and other 

 interested parties. 



As discussed further in Chapters II and IV, in 

 April 1994 Congress enacted extensive amendments to 

 the Marine Mammal Protection Act. In response to 

 concerns that the Agreement on the Conservation of 

 Polar Bears may not have been fully implemented by 

 the United States and other parties, Congress amended 

 section 113 to require the Secretary of the Interior to 



initiate two reviews. Section 1 13(b) requires that the 

 Secretary, in consultation with the contracting parties, 

 review the effectiveness of the Agreement. The 

 review was to be initiated by the end of April 1995. 

 Also, the Secretary is to work with the contracting 

 parties to establish a process by which future reviews 

 of the Agreement will be conducted. 



With regard to domestic implementation of the 

 Polar Bear Agreement, section 113(c) requires the 

 Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the 

 Secretary of State and the Marine Mammal Commis- 

 sion, to review the effectiveness of U.S. implementa- 

 tion, particularly with respect to the habitat protection 

 mandates of the Agreement. A report on the results 

 of that review was to be submitted to Congress by 1 

 April 1995. In addition, the amendments call on the 

 Secretary, acting through the Secretary of State and in 

 consultation with the Marine Mammal Commission 

 and the State of Alaska, to consult with appropriate 

 officials in the Russian Federation to develop and 

 implement enhanced cooperative research and manage- 

 ment programs for conserving polar bears in Alaska 

 and Russia. A report on the consultations and period- 

 ic progress reports on research and management 

 actions taken under this provision are to be provided 

 to Congress. 



As noted in the previous annual report, on 18 July 

 1994 the Commission wrote to the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service with regard to both the legal analysis that had 

 been prepared under contract and the new require- 

 ments under the 1994 Marine Mammal Protection Act 

 amendments. In its letter, the Commission recom- 

 mended that, as a first step toward meeting the 

 requirements of the amendments, the Service convene 

 a meeting of representatives of interested govern- 

 mental and non-governmental entities to review and 

 agree on points put forth in the legal analysis. 



With regard to full implementation of the Agree- 

 ment by the United States, the Commission noted that 

 the three aspects of greatest concern are (1) the habitat 

 protection mandate, (2) the prohibition on the use of 

 aircraft and large motorized vessels for taking polar 

 bears, and (3) the resolution calling for a ban on 

 hunting of cubs and females with cubs and a ban on 

 hunting in denning areas. 



143 



