36 



on the high seas. Such authority is already available for the protection of sea 

 otters under tiUe III of the Fur Seal Act of 1966 (80 Stat. 1006; 16 U.S.C. 1171) 

 and -would, we believe, contribute significantly to the conservation of polar bears 

 found beyond the territorial sea of the United States. Our proi>osed amendment 

 would make it unlawful, except as provided by regulations issued by the Secre- 

 tary, for any i)erson subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to take polar 

 bears or walrus on the high seas, or to possess, transport, sell or purchase polar 

 bears or walrus, or parts thereof, taken on the high seas. We recommend the addi- 

 tion of a new section 3, as follows : 



"Sec. 3. Section 301 of the Pur Seal Act of 1966 (80 Stat. 1096; 16 U.S.C. 1171) 

 is amended by inserting the words ', polar bears, or walrus' or the words ', polar 

 bear, or walrus', as appropriate, following the words 'sea otters' and "sea otter' 

 wherever they appear." 



The Office of Management and Budget has advised that there is no objection 

 to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's 

 program- 

 Sincerely yours, 



Harrison Loesch, 

 Assistant Secretary of the Interior. 



U.S. Department of the Interior, 



Office of the Secretary, 

 Washington, D.C., September 8, 1911. 

 Hon. Edward A. Garmatz, 



Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine amd Fisheries, 

 House of Representatives, 

 Washington, D.C. 



Dear Mr. Chairman : This responds to your requests for comment on H. Con. 

 Res. 77, expressing the sense of Congress that the Secretary of the Interior 

 prescribe and implement regulations for the harvesting of Northern fur seals; 

 H.R. 4370, a bill "To amend the Fur Seal Act of 1966 by prohibiting the clubbing 

 of seals after July 1, 1972, the taking of seal pups, and the taking of female 

 seals on the Pribilof Islands or on any other land and water under the jurisdic- 

 tion of the United States" ; and H.R. 7463, a bill "to protect seals from being 

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



As each of these bills pertains to program responsibilities now vested in the 

 Department of Commerce, we defer to its judgment concerning the advisability 

 of enactment 



H. Con. Res. 77. H.R. 4370, and H.R. 7463 all purport to regulate further the 

 taking of North Pacific fur seals under a program administered by the Federal 

 Government pursuant to the Fur Seal Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 1151, et seq.). 

 H. Con. Res. 77 would urge the implementation of regulations "which insure that 

 the seals are quickly and painlessly killed before skinning". H.R. 4370 would 

 amend sections 104, i09, 404 and 40.5 of the Fur Seal Act of 1966 to prohibit the 

 killing of seals by clubbing after July 1, 1972, the taking of the skin of any seal 

 under one year of age, and the taking of the skin of any female seal. It would 

 further direct the Secretary of Commerce to initiate research on alternative 

 means of killing seals, and to adopt regulations which reflect the results of 

 such research. Subject to exceptions for research, public display, native uses 

 and continued implementation of the Interim Convention on the Conservation 

 of North Pacific Fur Seals, H.R. 7463 would prohibit the taking, importation, 

 sale and possession of seals or parts thereof. It would express the sense of 

 Congress that the Convention not be extended beyond the expiration date of 

 1976, and direct the Secretary of State to initiate negotiations for obtaining a 

 substitute agreement that would ban all killing of North Pacific fur seals. H.R. 

 7463 would also provide for administration of the Pribilof Islands by this 

 Department as a National Seal Rockery Preserve and Bird Sanctuary, and for 

 the establishment of a Pribilof Islands Commission. 



[Bach of these bills adopts the premise that management of the Pribilof 

 fur seal herd pursuant to the Convention and the Fur Seal Act of 1966 is inhumane 

 and/or has caused the depletion of this resource. The Department of Commerce, 

 to which this program responsibility was transferred by Reorganization Plan 

 No. 4 of 1970, can best assess that premise in light of recent data. During our 

 administration of the program, exhaustive research failed to support the con- 



