Transboundary agreement: case studies of marine mammal management in the Bering Strait

Thesis (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2016The effectiveness of a state's natural resource management is rendered meaningless if the particular resource migrates into another state's jurisdiction. In the case of marine mammals, inadequate management of the species anywhere along their annual migration could make food insecure for the regional human populations. My research evaluates to what extent International Environmental Agreements have been able to manage transboundary challenges to food security. Two case studies, the Polar Bear Agreement (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2000) and the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (International Whaling Commission, 1946), are analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively using Ronald Mitchell's four factors for describing variation of International Environmental Agreements' effectiveness: incentives, capacities, information, and norms. To ensure food security in the Bering Strait, this thesis stresses the importance of local concerns, norms and stakeholders. Transboundary management includes stakeholders at various scales to address a local challenge that is intersected by an international political boundary. The higher values of the Bowhead whale International Environmental Agreement's four factors, in the quantitative analysis, account for the higher level of food security for Bowhead whale. The qualitative analysis makes three recommendations for future International Environmental Agreements, in this case the draft U.S.-Russia agreement on Pacific walrus: 1) conservation of the Pacific walrus, 2) maintenance of Native self-determination and, 3) encouragement the flow of information between the local and federal stakeholders and between the United States and Russia. In order to ensure future food security in the Bering Strait Region, the management of the Pacific walrus depends on an effective International Environmental Agreement.Chapter 1: Introduction -- Literature review -- A social-ecological system: The Bering Strait Region -- Geographic scope -- Ecological properties -- Climate and biophysical change -- Marine mammals: historic and modern maritime activity -- Resource density -- Social properties -- Political alliances -- International agreements: transboundary policy -- Shipping -- Common-pool resource management -- Stakeholder participation -- Co-management -- Conceptual framework -- Four factors of international environmental agreements -- Methodology -- Chapter 2: The United States-U.S.S.R./Russia's transboundary relations -- Introduction -- National security -- Food security -- Definitions -- Ties to Inuit culture: The six dimensions -- Co-management and policy -- The bilateral politics of food security -- The United States -- Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 -- The Endangered Species Act of 1973 -- Federal and local actors -- The Russian Federation -- Policy: domestic and international -- Federal and local actors -- Federal collaboration: Convention on the International Trades of Endangered Species and Cooperation in Environmental Protection -- Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species -- Cooperation in environmental protection -- Local collaboration: Eskimo visa-free area, Bering Straits Regional Commission, Qatnut Fair, Shared Beringia Heritage Program, marine mammal observations -- The visa-free area and the Bering Strait Regional Commission -- The Qatnut Trade Fair -- Marine mammal observations -- Conclusion -- Chapter 3: Successes and shortcomings of transboundary co-management: how international environmental agreements affect food security -- Introduction -- Four factors as the framework for analyzing international environmental agreements -- Case study: United States-Russia conservation and management of the Alaska-Chukotka polar bear population -- Incentives: the 1973 agreement, Inuvialuit-Iñupiaq Agreement, politics of the 1990s -- Capacities: federal actors, regional and Native cooperation, and non-governmental organizations -- Information: rules, roles, and scientific uncertainty -- Norms: Native, global, and interdependent -- Case study: International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling -- Incentives: whaling moratorium, international decision-making, cultural impacts -- Capacities: international, federal agencies, regional governments, and Native organizations -- Information: IWC-AEWC and ChAZTO relations, integrated research collaboration, Annual Industry-Native Agreement -- Norms: cultural components of the AEWC and ChAZTO -- Discussion and conclusion -- Chapter 4: Analysis of and recommendations for transboundary management: a case study on pacific walrus -- Introduction -- Historical importance -- The contemporary concerns: geographic and species-based changes -- Case study comparison of bowhead whale and polar bear with pacific walrus -- Incentives: ecological impacts of sea ice changes and loss of cultural values of pacific walrus -- Capacities: international, legal options for federal agencies, regional organizations and governments -- Information: scientific communication on population uncertainty and communication with the public -- Norms: Chukotka's crises that drove a return to traditional practices during the 1990s -- Variations in the drafting of the pacific walrus IEA -- Recommendations for a pacific walrus international environmental agreement -- Discussion -- Chapter 5: Conclusion -- References cited

Factors influencing social demands of aquatic ecosystems

Aquatic ecosystems provide services essential to human health and economies. Therefore, resource management programs aim to ensure the sustainable flow of these services. Stakeholder engagement is often a critical tool in learning what services are of priority to the public and may be integral to the success of aquatic ecosystem management because public participation in planning and decision making can generate broader support, e.g., financial, intellectual, and labor, for the management plan. The collection of such information may even be statutorily mandated, such as in the Clean Water Act of the United States, which requires that water bodies be classified for the beneficial uses, e.g., fisheries, drinking water, or recreation, they provide. Past evaluations of stakeholder engagement with aquatic ecosystems have considered a wide range of factors influencing engagement. We conducted a critical review of the literature on characteristics of stakeholders and characteristics of the environment that influence stakeholder engagement and participation with aquatic ecosystems. Our objective was to identify factors that should be considered in the creation of surveys to help encourage the inclusion of ecological and social beneficial uses data in large-scale water monitoring programs. Factors identified in our review were, extent and influence of place-based knowledge; proximity to, and frequency of visitation of the resource(s) being considered; basic demographics such as age, gender, education, and income; home community type; aesthetic appeal of the resource; and primary reason for engagement with the resource. We propose these factors, with subfactors, as a template for survey development