The U.S. negotiating team consisted of representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of State, the Alaska Native Nanuuq (polar bear) Commission, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Marine Mammal Commission and the National Audubon Society.
"Weve worked with our Russian counterparts for more than six years to develop this very important Agreement," said the Co-head of the U.S. Delegation Leader, Dave Allen, Alaska Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. "This Agreement is a major milestone for the conservation of this shared population of polar bear. It provides for the long-term unified joint research and management programs involving polar bears and their habitats."
According to Co-head of U.S. Delegation Leader, Tucker Scully, Director of Oceans Affairs at the U.S. State Department, the Agreement involves conservation of important habitats, establishment of subsistence harvest limits, collection of biological information and full involvement of the Native people of Alaska and the Chukotka region of Russia in the implementation and enforcement of this Agreement.
Native people of Alaska currently hunt polar bears in the U.S. for subsistence purposes in accordance with U.S. domestic laws. However, current Russia law does not provide for similar managed harvest in Russia by Native people of Chukotka. This Agreement is designed to ensure that subsistence harvest by Native people of both countries will be consistent with sound conservation of the polar bear population shared by the U.S. and Russia.
"The United States and the Russia Federation, and in particular the Native people of Alaska and Chukotka, intend for this Agreement to serve as a catalyst for joint management and research to help insure a healthy polar bear population into the future," Allen said..
-FWS-
