Advancing Indigenous Ways of Life in Alaska

Indigenous People’s Council for Marine Mammals (“IPCoMM”) is a non-profit Alaska Native Organization (“ANO”) comprised of 15 members across Alaska engaged in co-management of marine resources. IPCOMM and its members advocate for the continuation of Alaska Native ways of living with marine mammals. We partner with federal agencies, scientists, and tribes on marine mammal issues to protect marine mammal species, the environment and Alaska Native ways of life.

Since 1997, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and IPCOMM have operated under an umbrella agreement to help facilitate and advance Alaska Native Organization co-management agreements with federal agencies. 

The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 prohibits the taking of marine mammals in United States waters. Section 101(b) of the Act provides an exemption for Alaska Natives across Alaska coastlines in the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans. As defined by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Alaska Native Organizations co-manage with federal agencies marine species central to indigenous ways of life including bowhead and beluga whales, pacific walrus, and ice seals.

CO-MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS and AGREEMENTS

Co-management agreements include conservation, harvest and use, reporting and monitoring, public involvement, research and enforcement. Alaska Native Organizations play critical roles in connecting and involving traditional knowledge holders, and hunters with agency managers and scientists. The structure of each Alaska Native organizations is diverse including federally recognized tribes, regional tribal organizations, regional governments, and hunters re indigenous peoples in Alaska.