Ice Seal Management Plan (2012)

Representatives from the five ice seal hunting regions (Bristol Bay, Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Bering Straits, Northwest Arctic & Arctic Slope), National Marine Fisheries Service, and other interested parties, organized the Ice Seal Committee in 2003 to address ice seal concerns. A co-management agreement was signed with National Marine Fisheries Service in 2006. The Ice Seal Committee (Bristol Bay Native Association, Association of Village Council Presidents, Kawerak, Inc., Maniilaq Association, and the North Slope Borough) is dedicated to ice seal conservation, habitat protection, and preservation of the traditional ice seal subsistence harvest. The means to achieve these goals is through ice seal co-management between hunters and the National Marine Fisheries Service, and through self regulation by hunter groups. This management plan outlines the principles by which the members of the Ice Seal Committee will manage ice seals.