Reauthorization of the Marine Mammal Protection Act
Reauthorization of the MMPA remains a high priority for AFN. The Indigenous Peoples’ Commission on Marine Mammals (IPCoMM), a subcommittee of AFN’s Subsistence Committee, has negotiated amendments to section 119 of the MMPA with the federal agencies to allow the Secretaries of Commerce and Interior, in coordination with Alaska Native organizations, to develop harvest management plans within existing or newly developed cooperative management agreements. These plans would implement management measures taken by Alaska Native organizations and their member tribes to regulate the subsistence taking of marine mammals for conservation purposes prior to a finding of depletion. AFN urges the Alaska congressional delegation to work to resolve any perceived or real problems with the proposed amendments and to include the harvest management amendments to Section 119 in legislation introduced to reauthorize or amend the MMPA during the 109th Congress.
• U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Conservation & Management Act of 2005 (S. 2013): This legislation will be included as an amendment to the MMPA. It will implement an agreement signed by the governments of the U.S. and Russia on October 16, 2000, and ratified by the Senate on July 31, 2003. The bilateral Polar Bear Agreement is intended to ensure the long-term, science-based conservation of the Alaska-Chukotka polar bear population. While lawful harvest by Alaska Natives for subsistence purposes occurs in Alaska, U.S. law does not allow restrictions on this harvest unless a polar bear population becomes “depleted” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act or a “threatened or endangered species” under the Endangered Species Act. The Russian Federation is prepared to open a lawful polar bear hunting opportunity for subsistence purposes for Native Chukotkans. When this happens, there will be an immediate, pressing need for the coordination of harvest restrictions on both sides of the border to prevent an unsustainable combined harvest. The Agreement creates a management framework to prevent this from happening. AFN calls upon Congress to enact S.2013 during this Congress. If passed, S.2013 represents a major step forward for polar bear conservation.
Return 2006 Federal Priorities
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