The Agreement unifies management programs between the U.S. and Russia for the shared Alaska-Chukotka polar bear population. Notably, it calls for the active involvement of Native people and their organizations. It will also provide for long-term joint programs such as conservation of ecosystems and important habitats, harvest allocations based on sustainability, collection of biological information, and increased partnerships with state, local, and private interests. It enhances the 1973 multi-lateral Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears between the United States, Russia, Norway, Denmark (for Greenland), and Canada by allowing a sustainable harvest by Alaska and Chukotka Natives but prohibiting the harvest of females with cubs, or cubs less than one year old. It also prohibits the use of aircraft and large motorized vessels and vehicles to take polar bears, and it focuses on conserving specific polar bear habitats such as feeding, congregating and denning areas.
"Weve worked with our Russian counterparts and the Native people from both countries for more than eight years to develop this very important Agreement" said David B. Allen, Alaska Regional Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "This Agreement is a major milestone for the conservation of the Alaska-Chukotka polar bear population. It provides for the long-term unified joint research and management programs involving polar bears and their habitats."
Several joint research and management efforts between the U.S. and Russia have been successful in the past. However, until recently, the U.S. and Russia have each managed the shared Alaska-Chukotka polar bear population independently. In recent years an illegal and unknown amount of harvest has occurred in Russia, in spite of a ban on hunting since 1956. In Alaska, subsistence hunting by Natives is allowed so long as the polar bear population is not depleted. The Russian government has enacted legislation which would enable a sustainable harvest by Chukotka Natives and give this Agreement the force of law in Russia. Each country has the right to one half of the annual harvest limit.
Over the past several years the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a working group met
with Russian officials and Alaska and Chukotka Natives to develop a conservation agreement for polar bears. The working group includes the Alaska Nanuuq Commission, North Slope Borough, State of Alaska/Department of Fish and Game, Marine Mammal Commission, National Audubon Society, RurAL CAP, U.S. Department of State, and the Department of Interior Solicitors Office.
The Fish and Wildlife Service finalized an Environmental Assessment in March 1997 and submitted an authorization request to the U.S. Department of State to negotiate the Agreement in April 1997. Department of State approval was granted on January 22, 1998, and negotiations were held in February 1998 and March 2000. These negotiations resulted in todays Agreement. The next step is for the State Department to submit the final Agreement to the U.S. Senate for ratification. The Senate must also enact enabling legislation in the U.S. to augment the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Polar bears live in sea ice habitat considered to be the harshest and most remote anywhere on earth. They typically occur in low densities over vast areas of the Arctic. Approximately 22,000 - 28,000 polar bears exist worldwide. Two populations occur in Alaska: the southern Beaufort Sea population which is shared with Canada, and the Alaska-Chukotka population which is shared with Russia. Polar bears and polar bear hunting are important to the cultures of Native people and their traditional way of life. Modern technology, global pollution, and cultural and economic changes have all influenced the balance between humans and polar bears. Illegal hunting, habitat loss, pollution, and global warming pose the most serious threats to polar bears.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
A backgrounder web page for the media is available by going to: http://www.r7.fws.gov/
and clicking on "Polar Bear Agreement" under Issues of Importance.
You can subscribe to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska region listserver, to have our press releases sent to your e-mail address automatically by sending an e-mail message to: listserver@www.fws.gov">. Please indicate that you would like to subscribe to FWS-Alaska news and give your name in the body of the message.
Highlights of the Agreement
Under the Agreement, subsistence harvest by Native people is the only consumptive use. Agreement establishes enforceable harvest limits, prohibits harvesting denning bears, females with cubs, or cubs less than one year old, prohibits the use of aircraft and large motorized vessels for hunting polar bears, initiates coordination on habitat conservation measures, and provides for additional polar bear population studies. U.S. and Russian governments support cooperation between Alaska and Chukotka Native organizations. In Alaska, this is done through the Alaska Nanuuq Commission. Agreement is consistent with the 1973 international "Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears" and advances the intent of this Agreement with on-the-ground programs. Agreement implements the Congressional intent of the 1994 amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA,) which direct the Secretary of the Interior to "consult with the appropriate officials of the Russian Federation on the development and implementation of enhanced cooperative research and management programs for the conservation of polar bears in Alaska and Russia.A Joint Commission administers the Agreement. The Commission includes four representatives: a governmental official and a Native official from each jurisdiction. The Commission may form a scientific advisory group to provide expertise.
