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General Counsel of the Department of Commerce, 



Washinffton, D.C., September 30, 1971. 

 Hon. Edward A. Garmatz, 



Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 

 House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 



Dear Mr. Chairman : This is in reply to your request for the views of this 

 Department with respect to H.R. 6554, a bill "to protect ocean mammals from 

 being pursued, harassed, or killed ; and for other purposes." 



Our comments on this bill also apply to H.R. 6558 and H.R. 8183, and to H.R. 

 7463, a similar bill which applies only to seals. 



H.R. 6554 would prevent the taking of any marine mammals by U.S. citizens ; 

 or the transportation, import, or offer for sale of ocean mammals or parts 

 thereof. Section 203 would exempt Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos of the North 

 Pacific and Arctic who could take marine mammals (except for polar bear) for 

 their own use but not for sale, provided this was done in accordance with cus- 

 tomary traditions and as part of the native culture. Section 206 addresses itself 

 to the enforcement of the act and the penalties for violations. Title III deals 

 specifically with the North Pacific fur seal and the present Interim Convention 

 on the Conservation of the North Pacific Fur Seals. Section 301 states that it is 

 the sense of Congress that the treaty should be permitted to expire in 1976 and 

 that the United States should immediately notify the other signatories that it 

 does not intend to extend the treaty and that the Secretary of State should open 

 negotiations for a new treaty to ban all killing of Northern Pacific fur seals. 

 Section 302 provides that the United States would no longer kill fur seals for 

 its 70 percent share of skins under the treaty and between the enactment of the 

 bill and the expiration of the convention would either make a cash payment to 

 both Canada and Japan for their respective 15 percent of the harvest or would 

 harvest that many seals for those countries if they preferred to receive the skins. 

 Section 303 would designate the Pribilof Islands as a national seal rookery 

 preserve and bird sanctuary under the Department of the Interior, and would 

 provide that the Aleuts would be given the opportunity to be the rangers and 

 guides. Section 404 would provide for a commission to help in promoting tourism 

 and developing an economy for the Aleuts in place of the seal harvest. 



We recommend against enactment of H.R. 6554. 



We do not believe that a blanket ban on the taking of marine mammals by 

 U.S. citizens and on the importation of marine mammals or their parts is either 

 needed or a wise approach to the conservation of the animals involved. However, 

 we recognize the legitimate concern of citizens for the proper conservation and 

 management of all the species. Accordingly, in a separate report to your Com- 

 mittee on H.R. 10420, we have addressed the need for augmentation by statute 

 of existing research and regulatory authority in this area. Also in that report, we 

 have recommended that a comprehensive review and study of policies regarding 

 marine mammals be undertaken by an independent Commission, which would 

 make recommendations to the responsible Federal agencies. 



Except for the Pribilof Islands fur seals, marine mammals off the coasts of 

 the United States are actually little utilized by U.S. citizens. Few products of 

 marine mammals are imported into the United States. In fact, fur sealskins, 

 which at one time were used primarily in the United States, have found a greater 

 acceptance in Europe and in recent sales over 80 percent of the skins were bought 

 by European buyers. (The United States does import a quantity of whale prod- 

 ucts, but these imports are scheduled to cease by the end of 1971 under the 

 provisions of the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969.) The relatively 

 small take of marine mammals in the United States that does occur is primarily 

 in Alaska. According to our information about 300 polar bears are taken annually 

 by big-game hunters. Some walruses are taken by the Eskimos for food, skins 

 and sale of carved ivory, and some hair seals are taken for food, clothing, and 

 the sale of skins, or clothing (such as mukluks) made from the skins. The State 

 of Alaska also conducts a small annual harvest of sea otters in some overi^opu- 

 lated colonies. A few whales are taken by the natives of Alaska for their own use 

 and about 5,000 sea lions are harvested each year. 



The Secretary of Commerce announced on April 19, 1971, that whaling from 

 the United States for species of whales on the Endangered Species List vpould 

 be stopped as of December 31, 1971. Further sea mammal protection is ahso con- 

 tained in the Fur Seal Act of 1966 which not only provides for management of 

 the fur seals of the Pribilof Islands, but also provides for total protection of sea 

 otters on the high seas beyond the territorial waters of the United States. Laws 



