Section 119 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (Public Law 103-238) allows NOAA Fisheries or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to establish agreements with 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:
- Developing marine mammal co-management structures and processes with federal and state agencies
- Monitoring the harvest of marine mammals for subsistence use
- Participating in marine mammal research
- Collecting and analyzing data on marine mammal populations.
Cooperative Agreements
Through Section 119 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act Amendments of 1994 (Public Law 103-238) NOAA Fisheries and the FWS are granted authority to enter into cooperative agreements with Alaska Native organizations.
Alaska Beluga Whale Committee
Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission
- Cooperative Agreements between NOAA and the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC) to protect the bowhead whale and the culture of whaling villages: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2011, 2008, 2003, 1998..
- Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission
- Bowhead Whale Subsistence Harvest, December 2008
Aleut Marine Mammal Commission
Alaska Native Harbor Seal Commission
- The Alaska Native Harbor Seal Commission has not been operational since 2017
- Harbor Seal Co-Management Action Plan between the Alaska Native Harbor Seal Commission and the National Marine Fisheries Service, 2001
- Agreement between the Alaska Native Harbor Seal Commission and the National Marine Fisheries Service, 1999
- Harbor seals
Cook Inlet Marine Mammal Council
- Cook Inlet Marine Mammal Council was disbanded by unanimous vote of the then CIMMC member Tribes' representatives on 6/20/2012.
Ice Seal Committee
Indigenous People's Council for Marine Mammals
Traditional Council of St. George Island
Tribal Government of St. Paul
Co-Management Plan for Subsistence Use of Marine Mammals on St. Paul Island, Alaska
Related Information
- Draft "Consultation and Coordination Policy of the U.S. Department of Commerce" for Tribal Consultations, July 2012
- 2005 Consolidated Appropriations (PL 108-447) (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) (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.
- Executive Order No. 13175, November 6, 2000: 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, November 6, 2000."
- American Indian and Alaska Native Policy, March 1995
- Government-to-Government Relations With Native American Tribal Governments, Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, May 1994
- Tribal Consultations
Alaska Protected Resources Division