Chapter VI — The Arctic 



more appropriate to have the responsible government 

 agency, rather than the hunter, certify that the gall 

 bladder has been destroyed. Therefore, the Com- 

 mission recommended that the proposed rule be 

 revised accordingly. 



In its Federal Register notice, the Service discussed 

 the applicability of the Marine Mammal Protection 

 Act's prohibition on importing any marine mammal 

 that was pregnant or nursing at the time of taking or 

 less than eight months old. The Commission agreed 

 with the Service that this prohibition remains applica- 

 ble to polar bear imports from Canada. The Federal 

 Register notice identified three possible means for 

 ensuring that the requirements of the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act pertaining to imports of pregnant, 

 nursing, or young bears are satisfied. The options are 

 (1) have the Northwest Territories certify that at the 

 time of take the bear was not pregnant, was not a 

 nursing cub, and was not a mother with cubs, (2) con- 

 dition the import permit to require the permittee to 

 certify at the time of import that at the time of take a 

 female bear was not pregnant or a mother with cubs, 

 and a young bear was not nursing, and/or (3) include 

 issuance criteria that permits would not be issued for 

 female bears taken during the month of October or for 

 bears taken while in family groups. 



Because of the difficulty in determining and 

 verifying that a polar bear was not pregnant, lactating, 

 or nursing when taken, the Commission stated it did 

 not believe that options 1 or 2 would provide suffi- 

 cient assurance that such bears will not be imported. 

 With respect to option 3 of the proposed finding, the 

 Commission noted that virtually all pregnant females 

 are in dens by December and that some pregnant 

 bears are building dens or moving to denning sites in 

 October and November. However, there is a good 

 possibility that single, adult female bears taken in 

 October or November could be pregnant. Therefore, 

 the third option provided little assurance that bears 

 taken at those times are not pregnant females. 



The Commission recommended that a fourth possi- 

 bility be incorporated into the final rule - that no 

 import permits be issued for polar bears taken from 

 populations for which the hunting season begins prior 

 to 1 December. 



Section 104(c)(5)(A) of the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act also allows for the importation of polar 

 bear trophies from Canada that were taken, but not 

 imported, prior to enactment of the 1994 amendments. 

 Such imports are subject to the same findings as are 

 imports of trophies taken after enactment of the 

 amendments. The Service proposed issuing permits 

 for sport hunted polar bears taken prior to the effec- 

 tive date of any final rule that may be issued, provid- 

 ed the applicant shows that the polar bear was legally 

 taken and was not pregnant or nursing when taken. 



In the Commission's opinion, the Service seemed 

 to have overlooked the applicability of the require- 

 ment that the Service determine the Canadian sport 

 hunting program to be based on scientifically sound 

 quotas ensuring the maintenance of the affected 

 population stock at a sustainable level. While the 

 statute does not explicitly require the finding to be 

 based on historical data, the Commission believes that 

 the nature of the required finding strongly suggests 

 that historical data must be used. The Commission 

 stated that it did not see how the Service could find 

 that the quotas are scientifically sound and ensure that 

 the affected populations are maintained at sustainable 

 levels if it did not weigh the quotas that were in place 

 at the time the bears were taken. Even if the Ser- 

 vice's interpretation of the timing of the required 

 sustainability finding were correct, it appeared that a 

 present-day finding needed to be in place. At the 

 absolute minimum, the Service should require the 

 applicant to demonstrate that the trophy to be import- 

 ed was taken from a population for which the Service 

 has made a current affirmative finding. 



With respect to the required showing that a pre- 

 amendment bear was not pregnant or nursing at the 

 time of taking, the Commission stated its belief that 

 the Service should assume that a bear is a female 

 unless the applicant provides sufficient evidence that 

 it is a male and assume that the bear may have been 

 pregnant or nursing unless it was taken at a time of 

 year when all such bears would normally be in dens. 



In its notice, the Service proposed to provide a 

 mechanism whereby trophies taken after the effective 

 date of the rule, from a population for which an 

 affirmative finding has yet to be made, may be 

 imported. The import would be permissible if the 



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