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It is as if our people live in the fishbowl and every action we take 

 is watched by the world community and every mistake made by our 

 members is magnified beyond its proportion. 



The suggestion made to you today by the Fish and Wildlife Serv- 

 ice is an example of why we feel that way. The native exemption 

 has worked well but Fish and Wildlife does not seem to understand 

 that. 



We have come to you today with what we see as practically un- 

 necessary and unacceptable changes to the native exemption. 



There is no problem in the definition of handicraft and we cur- 

 rently have full legal authority to interpret the undefined terms of 

 the statutes. 



The mention of sales of gallbladders and male organs is some- 

 thing that they have not communicated to us as a concern and if 

 they are aware of illegal sales, then Fish and Wildlife should en- 

 force the ban of these sales, rather than bring it to the public as 

 a problem. 



There are currently a number of excellent vehicles for working 

 within the native community. These commissions were formed for 

 the purpose of protecting the uses of marine mammals. The empha- 

 sis was to respond to situations that threaten our subsistence life- 

 style and to show that we are genuinely concerned about the con- 

 servation of marine mammals. 



In 1977, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission was formed in 

 response to an international effort to ban the subsistence harvest 

 of bowhead whales. The Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission is 

 now seen as an example of the native community's ability to orga- 

 nize for species management, conduct and develop scientific re- 

 search, and implement self-management. 



The Eskimo Walrus Commission was formed in 1978 in response 

 to the State of Alaska's efforts to manage walrus. It is in these and 

 other efforts that we have consistently made efforts to assist the 

 agencies to improve the knowledge of the species, to monitor the 

 native take, and to avoid waste. 



I believe that the cooperation with native communities is nec- 

 essary to ensure the conservation of marine mammals. It is only 

 if the Alaskan natives have a stake in research regulation and en- 

 forcement that the management action can be effective. 



It is our experience with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, how- 

 ever, that cooperation is more an exception than the rule. The sug- 

 gestions made by the Director today were never discussed with the 

 native community before. 



Again, the key is cooperation and the best model of that is co- 

 management, where there is a genuine sharing of power and re- 

 sponsibility over all forms of management. 



The service — excuse me — am I out of time? 



Mr. Studds. We have a certain degree of flexibility when dealing 

 with people from southeastern Massachusetts and Alaska. We un- 

 derstand that you have traveled a very great distance and of course 

 Dr. Tyack has traveled an equal distance when you talk about vir- 

 tual distance, so please take an extra couple of minutes. 



Mr. Pungowiyi. Thank you, sir. The Service has made some 

 great strides in this direction with respect to migratory birds. The 



