Polar Bear
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Appendix A—Background<br />
conservation and harvest practices (Treseder<br />
and Carpenter 1989; Nageak et al. 1991).<br />
In Canada, recommendations and decisions<br />
from the I-I Commissioners are implemented<br />
through Community <strong>Polar</strong> <strong>Bear</strong> Management<br />
Agreements, Inuvialuit Settlement Region<br />
Community Bylaws, and NWT Big Game<br />
Regulations. In the United States, the I-I<br />
Agreement is implemented at the local level.<br />
Adherence to the agreement’s terms in Alaska<br />
is voluntary, and levels of compliance may vary.<br />
• Agreement between the United States of<br />
America and the Russian Federation on<br />
the Conservation and Management of the<br />
Alaska—Chukotka <strong>Polar</strong> <strong>Bear</strong> Population<br />
(Bilateral Agreement). In October 16, 2000,<br />
the United States and the Russian Federation<br />
signed a bilateral agreement for the conservation<br />
and management of polar bear subpopulations<br />
shared between the two countries.<br />
The Bilateral Agreement expands upon the<br />
progress made through the multilateral<br />
1973 Agreement by implementing a unified<br />
conservation program for this shared population.<br />
Beginning in 2007, parties to the treaty<br />
established a joint U.S.-Russia Commission<br />
responsible for making management decisions<br />
concerning polar bears in the Alaska-Chukotka<br />
region. The Commission is composed of a<br />
Native and federal representative from each<br />
country. The Commissioners have appointed a<br />
scientific working group (SWG) and tasked this<br />
SWG with a number of objectives, with the top<br />
priority being identifying a sustainable harvest<br />
level for the Alaska-Chukotka population.<br />
In response to this initiative, the SWG provided<br />
the Commission with a peer-reviewed report of<br />
their recommendations regarding harvest and<br />
future research needs. At a meeting in June 2010,<br />
the Commission decided to place an upper limit<br />
on harvest from the CS population of 19 female<br />
and 39 male (for a total of 58) polar bears per year<br />
based on the recommendation of the SWG and<br />
subsistence needs. Harvest will be split evenly<br />
between Native peoples of Alaska and Chukotka.<br />
The Service and the Alaska Nanuuq Commission<br />
(ANC) will work in partnership with local communities<br />
to implement the harvest quota.<br />
• Memorandum of Understanding between<br />
Environment Canada and the United States<br />
Department of the Interior Concerning the<br />
Conservation and Management of Shared<br />
<strong>Polar</strong> <strong>Bear</strong> Populations. In May 2008, the<br />
Canadian Minister of Environment and<br />
the U.S. Secretary of the Interior signed a<br />
Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate<br />
and enhance coordination, cooperation, and<br />
the development of partnerships between the<br />
Participants, and with other associated and<br />
interested entities, regarding the conservation<br />
and management of polar bears and to<br />
provide a framework for the development<br />
and implementation of mutually agreeable<br />
immediate, interim, and long-term actions<br />
that focus on specific components of polar bear<br />
conservation.<br />
• The Convention on International Trade<br />
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna<br />
and Flora (CITES) is a treaty designed<br />
to protect animal and plant species at risk<br />
from international trade. CITES regulates<br />
international wildlife trade by listing species<br />
in one of its three appendices; the level of<br />
monitoring and regulation to which an animal<br />
or plant species is subject depends on the<br />
appendix in which it is listed. <strong>Polar</strong> bears were<br />
listed in Appendix II of CITES on July 7,<br />
1975. As such, CITES parties must determine,<br />
among other things, that any polar bear,<br />
polar bear part, or product made from polar<br />
bear is legally obtained and that the export<br />
will not be detrimental to the survival of the<br />
species, prior to issuing a permit authorizing<br />
the export of the animal, part, or product. All<br />
five range states are CITES signatories and<br />
have the required Scientific and Management<br />
Authorities. CITES is effective in regulating<br />
the international trade in polar bear parts and<br />
products, and provides conservation measures<br />
to minimize that potential threat to the species.<br />
B. Domestic Regulatory Mechanisms<br />
• The Marine Mammal Protection Act<br />
(MMPA) was enacted on October 21, 1972.<br />
All marine mammals, including polar bears,<br />
are protected under the MMPA. The MMPA<br />
prohibits, with certain exceptions, the “take”<br />
of marine mammals in U.S. waters and by U.S.<br />
citizens on the high seas, and the importation<br />
of marine mammals and marine mammal<br />
products into the U.S. (http://www.nmfs.noaa.<br />
gov/pr/laws/mmpa/).<br />
Passage of the MMPA in 1972 established a<br />
moratorium on sport and commercial hunting<br />
of polar bears in Alaska. However, the MMPA<br />
exempts harvest, conducted in a non-wasteful<br />
manner, of polar bears by coastal dwelling Alaska<br />
Natives for subsistence and handicraft purposes.<br />
The MMPA and its implementing regulations<br />
also prohibit the commercial sale of any marine<br />
mammal parts or products except those that<br />
qualify as authentic articles of handicrafts or<br />
clothing created by Alaska Natives.<br />
Section 119 of the MMPA was added to allow the<br />
Secretary to “enter into cooperative agreement<br />
with Alaska Native organizations to conserve<br />
marine mammals and provide co-management<br />
78 <strong>Polar</strong> <strong>Bear</strong> Conservation Management Plan