Alaska Co-Management Agreements

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Co-Management Agreements in Alaska

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Co-management Overview

Alaska Natives have a long history of self-regulation, based on the need to ensure a sustainable take of marine mammals for food and handicrafts. Co-management promotes full and equal participation by Alaska Natives in decisions affecting the subsistence management of marine mammals (to the maximum extent allowed by law) as a tool for conserving marine mammal populations in Alaska.

Section 119 (Co-management) Agreements may be established between NMFS or FWS and Alaska Native Organizations (ANOs), including, but not limited to, Alaska Native Tribes and tribally authorized co-management bodies. Individual co-management agreements shall incorporate the spirit and intent of co-management through close cooperation and communication between Federal agencies and the ANOs, hunters and subsistence users. Agreements encourage the exchange of information regarding the conservation, management, and utilization of marine mammals in U.S. waters in and around Alaska.

The best available scientific information, and traditional and contemporary Alaska Native knowledge and wisdom (TKW), are used for decisions regarding Alaska marine mammal co-management, to the extent allowed by law. Existing ethical principles for the conduct of research shall be applied. Under Section 119 agreements, marine mammal stocks should not be permitted to diminish beyond the point at which they cease to fulfill their role in their ecosystem or to levels that won’t allow for sustainable subsistence harvest.

Agreements may involve: (1) developing marine mammal co-management structures and processes with Federal and State agencies, (2) monitoring the harvest of marine mammals for subsistence use, (3) participating in marine mammal research, and (4) collecting and analyzing data on marine mammal populations.

CO-MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS

Through Section 119 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act Amendments of 1994 (Public Law 103-238) NMFS and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) were granted authority to enter into cooperative agreements with Alaska Native organizations (ANOs)

CURRENT AGREEMENTS

Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC)

Amended Cooperative Agreement between NOAA and the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission to protect the bowhead whale and the Eskimo culture (Effective 1998-2008)
Cooperative Agreement between NOAA and the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission to protect the bowhead whale and the Eskimo culture (Effective 1998-2002)

Alaska Beluga Whale Commission (ABWC)

Co-management Agreement for Western Alaska belugas (Effective January 2000)

Cook Inlet Marine Mammal Council (CIMMC)

Co-management Agreements for Cook Inlet Belugas:
- Signed co-management agreements: 2006, 2005, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000
- Years without hunts: 2004, 2007
Environmental Assessments of CIMMC Co-Management Agreements:
2005, 2002, 2001, 2000

Alaska Native Harbor Seal Commission (ANHSC)

Aleut Marine Mammal Commission (AMMC)

Agreement between the Aleut Marine Mammal Commission and the National Marine Fisheries Service for the conservation and management of all marine mammal subsistence species with particular focus on Steller sea lions and harbor seals, November 2006

Tribal Government of St. Paul

Agreement Between the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island and NMFS for the Steller sea lion and the northern fur seal, 2000
Tribal Government Website for Fur Seal Disentanglement (External Link)
Aleut Community of St. Paul Tribal Government Ecosystem Conservation Office (External Link)

Traditional Council of St. George Island

Agreement Between the Aleut Community of St. George Island and NMFS for the Steller sea lion and the northern fur seal, 2001
St. George Traditional Council Kayumixtax Eco Office (External Link)

Ice Seal Commission

Agreement between the Ice Seal Committee (ISC) and NMFS for the Co-Management of Alaskan Ice Seal Populations, October 25, 2006
Alaska Nanuuq Commission website (External Link)

Indigenous People's Council for Marine Mammals
Memorandum of Agreement for Negotiation of Marine Mammal Protection Act Section 119 Agreements between the Department of Commerce, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Geological Survey and the Indigenous People's Council for Marine Mammals.

Related Information

2005 Consolidated Appropriations (PL 108-447) (Quote on page 459):
SEC. 518. Public Law 108-199 is amended in division H, section 161, by inserting "and all Federal agencies" after "Office of Management and Budget".

2004 Consolidated Appropriations (PL 108-199) (Quote on page 450):
SEC. 161. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall hereafter consult with Alaska Native corporations on the same basis as Indian tribes under Executive Order No. 13175.

Effective statutory text (codified in notes to 25 U.S.C.A. sect. 450)
"The Director of the Office of Management and Budget and all Federal agencies shall hereafter consult with Alaska Native corporations on the same basis as Indian tribes under Executive Order No. 13175."

American Indian and Alaska Native Policy, March 1995