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problems and responding to them before they become severe, it 

 may be possible to avoid the need to resort to such costly, 

 controversial, and after-the-fact regulatory programs. 



In this proposal, the Bering Sea Coalition and the City 

 of St. Paul, Alaska, seek an amendment to the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act ("MMPA") to provide the basis for eventually 

 establishing comprehensive, ecosystem-based protection and 

 management of living marine resources. The MMPA is the ideal 

 vehicle for such an amendment in that its primary objective is 

 to ensure the "health and stability" of the marine ecosystems 

 of which marine mammals are a part. 3 Although the MMPA 

 establishes this policy, it provides few of the tools 

 necessary to achieve this goal. The MMPA also recognizes the 

 importance of marine mammals and a healthy marine ecosystem to 

 the subsistence and economic needs of Alaskan Natives. 4 



While living marine resources continue to be managed or 

 protected separately under a variety of laws, such as the 

 MMPA, the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

 ("Magnuson Act") , the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the ESA, 

 there is no single law that provides for addressing marine 

 ecosystem issues on a comprehensive basis. As demonstrated by 

 the current biological problems being experienced in a number 



3 16 U.S.C. S 1362(6). 



4 Id. SS 1371(b), 1402(b)(7). 



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