122 



enforcement, the AEWC has addressed management questions ranging 

 from harvest levels, equipment and safety, to humane and non- 

 wasteful hunting practices. The Commission has acted decisively to 

 discipline the rare hunter who does not comply with all of the 

 harvest regulations it has promulgated with the approval of NOAA. 

 Today, it is engaged in a program to continue its extensive 

 educational and weapons development projects aimed at increasing 

 the efficiency, safety, and humaneness of whale harvests under the 

 IWC quota. 



Alaska and Inuvialuit Beluga Whale Committee . 



A recent article in Arctic . June 1993, pp. 134-37, summarizes 

 well the work of this important commission: 



The Alaska and Inuvialuit Beluga Whale Committee was formed in 

 1988 to facilitate and promote the wise conservation, 

 management and utilization of beluga whales in Alaska and the 

 western Canadian arctic. The membership of the Committee 

 consists of representatives from beluga whale hunting regions 

 and communities in Alaska and the Mackenzie River Delta in 

 Canada, U.S., federal, state and local government agencies, 

 and others, such as researchers and technical advisors. Only 

 representatives from beluga whale hunting communities vote on 

 matters related to hunting, while the committee as a whole 

 votes on other issues. Harvest monitoring programs are 

 planned and coordinated at the spring meetings, implemented 

 during the whaling season by hunters and others and reported 

 upon during the fall meeting. To date, the AIBWC has: 1) 

 established beluga whale research priorities; 2) coordinated 

 or assisted with the collection of samples for genetic, 

 contaminant and basic biological studies; 3) provided funding 

 for DNR studies; 4) commented on federal actions (e.g., 

 relating to oil and gas exploration activity) with the 

 potential to affect beluga whales, beluga whale habitat or 

 beluga hunting; 5) collected the most complete harvest data 

 ever available for Alaska; 6) produced a newsletter 

 highlighting important marine mammal issues for coastal 

 residents of Alaska; and 7) sponsored the attendance of 

 committee members at meetings of the International Whaling 

 Commission. The AIBWC recently ratified its draft Alaska 

 beluga whale management plan, a counterpart to the existing 

 plan for beluga whale management in the western Canadian 

 Arctic, and has initiated discussion of a joint Inupiat- 

 Inuvialuit plan for management of the shared Beaufort sea 

 beluga whale stock. 



Alaska Sea Otter Commission . 



The ASOC was formed in 1988 to provide a united voice to 

 promote Native participation in resource policies affecting sea 

 otters and their uses. Since then, the ASOC has begun developing 

 locally-based sea otter management plans. The Commission is 

 comprised of six commissioners representing the six regions of 

 Alaska in which sea otters are harvested by Alaska Natives — these 



