Chapter II — Species of Special Concern 



gram. Data obtained from the program are main- 

 tained by the Service in a computerized database. 

 During the harvest year running from 1 July 1997 to 

 30 June 1998, 46 polar bears were presented for 

 marking and tagging by Alaska Natives. The num- 

 bers of polar bears tagged during the past 10 harvest 

 years are shown in Table 7. 



Table 7. Numbers of Polar Bears Tagged during 

 Alaska Native Harvests, 1988-1998 



Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears 



As noted above, polar bears occur throughout the 

 Arctic in relatively discrete populations that overlap 

 national boundaries. Thus, effective conservation of 

 polar bears requires cooperative actions by the several 

 nations. Activities concerning international efforts to 

 conserve polar bears and actions to review the effec- 

 tiveness of those efforts are discussed below. 



In 1973 the governments of Canada, Denmark 

 (for Greenland), Norway, the Soviet Union, and the 

 United States concluded the Agreement on the Con- 

 servation of Polar Bears. The Agreement was promp- 

 ted by growing concern about the possible effects of 

 sport and commercial hunting of polar bears, which 

 had increased in the 1950s and 1960s, and the effects 

 of industrial activities on polar bears and their habitat. 



Article I of the Agreement prohibits the taking of 

 polar bears, subject to certain exceptions set forth in 

 Article III. Article II requires that each contracting 

 party "take appropriate action to protect the ecosys- 

 tems of which polar bears are a part, with special 

 attention to habitat components such as denning and 



feeding sites and migration patterns...." Article IV 

 prohibits the use of aircraft and large motorized 

 vessels for purposes of taking polar bears. In addition 

 to these provisions of the Agreement, the parties 

 adopted a resolution calling on each party to ban the 

 hunting of polar bear cubs, female bears with cubs, 

 and bears moving into denning areas or in dens. 



As discussed in previous annual reports, the 

 Marine Mammal Commission and others questioned 

 whether the Marine Mammal Protection Act or other 

 domestic statutes provide sufficient legal authority for 

 the United States to implement fully all provisions of 

 the Agreement, particularly with respect to habitat 

 protection. In 1992 the Commission contracted for an 

 examination of the Agreement's provisions, 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 

 report of that study was provided to the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service in January 1994. That report was 

 updated to reflect amendments to the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act enacted in 1994 and forwarded to the 

 Service in 1995 (see Appendix B, Baur 1995). 



In response to concerns that the Agreement may 

 not have been implemented fully by the United States 

 and other parties. Congress amended section 113 of 

 the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1994 to require 

 the Secretary of the Interior to initiate two reviews. 

 Section 113(b) requires the Secretary, in consultation 

 with the other contracting parties, to review the 

 effectiveness of the Agreement. That review was to 

 be initiated by the end of April 1995. Also, the 

 Secretary was directed to work with the contracting 

 parties to establish a process by which future reviews 

 of the Agreement will be conducted. Section 113(c) 

 requires the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation 

 with the Secretary of State and the Marine Mammal 

 Commission, to review the effectiveness of U.S. 

 implementation of the Agreement, particularly with 

 respect to habitat protection. A report on the results of 

 that review was to be submitted to Congress by 1 

 April 1995. 



As the Commission had recommended in July 

 1994, the Service in June 1995 convened a meeting of 

 representatives of interested governmental agencies 



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