§1388 Marine Mammal Cooperative Agreements in Alaska

Summary

The Secretary can make cooperative agreements with Alaska Native organizations to protect marine mammals and to share management of subsistence uses by Alaska Natives. These agreements can include grants for things like collecting and studying marine mammal population data, watching and recording subsistence harvests, joining marine mammal research with federal, state, academic, or private groups, and building co-management systems with federal and state agencies. Nothing in the agreements lets any government gain new control over fish or wildlife resources or change the political or legal status of Alaska Natives or their communities. Congress authorized $1,500,000 to the Secretary of Commerce and $1,000,000 to the Secretary of the Interior for each fiscal year 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999. These amounts are in addition to other authorized funds.