Opinion ID: 494707
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act

Text: 32 The MBTA was enacted in 1918 to implement a convention between the United States and Great Britain protecting migratory birds. See Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds, August 16, 1916, United States-Great Britain (on behalf of Canada), 39 Stat. 1702, T.S. No. 628 [hereinafter United States-Canada Convention]. By enacting the MBTA, Congress obtained regulatory authority over migratory birds which previously had been held by the individual states. See Missouri v. Holland, 252 U.S. 416, 40 S.Ct. 382, 64 L.Ed. 641 (1920). The MBTA has since been amended to implement conventions which the United States has signed with Mexico, Japan, and the Soviet Union. See Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds and Game Mammals, February 7, 1936, United States-Mexico, 50 Stat. 1311, T.S. No. 912; Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds and Birds In Danger of Extinction and Their Environment, March 4, 1972, United States-Japan, 25 U.S.T. 3329, T.I.A.S. No. 7990; Convention Concerning the Conservation of Migratory Birds and Their Environment, November 19, 1976, United States-USSR, 29 U.S.T. 4647, T.I.A.S. No. 9073. 33 The MBTA makes all hunting of migratory birds unlawful unless the hunting is authorized by regulations adopted pursuant to the MBTA. 16 U.S.C. Sec. 703. The statute authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to adopt regulations governing the hunting of migratory birds. 16 U.S.C. Sec. 704. The Secretary is granted broad discretion in determining the content of the regulations, but is subject to the provisions and the purposes of the conventions. Id. The Department of the Interior is also granted enforcement powers. 16 U.S.C. Sec. 706. 34 The MBTA was amended in 1978 by the Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act to implement the United States-USSR Convention. The amendment added for the first time a statutory reference to subsistence hunting by Alaskan Natives. 3 The amendment allows the Secretary of the Interior to adopt regulations permitting subsistence hunting by Alaskan Natives if the regulations are in accordance with the provisions of the four treaties. 16 U.S.C. Sec. 712. 35 Although the parties dispute whether the Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act requires the Secretary's regulations to be in accord with only the United States-USSR Convention or whether the regulations must be in accordance with all four treaties, the legislative history regarding the Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act makes clear that regulations permitting closed season subsistence hunting may not be adopted if they are contrary to any of the treaties. See S.Rep. No. 1175, 95th Cong., 2d Sess., reprinted in 1978 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News 7641 [hereinafter Hearings ]. The legislative history shows, first, that Congress is in favor of permitting some subsistence hunting by Alaskan residents. The Senate Report states that the subsistence provisions of the three earlier treaties lack the administrative flexibility necessary to deal with the issue in a responsible manner. In contrast to these earlier inadequacies, the USSR convention contains the most modern and workable language on subsistence and avoids the errors of the past. Hearings at 7645. Second, the legislative history shows that Congress believed amendment of the treaties with Canada, Mexico, and Japan was necessary before regulations permitting subsistence hunting could be adopted. Senator Gravel, speaking in favor of the Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act before the Senate, stated that as soon as these other treaties can be amended by our negotiators and ratified, we can at least put to rest one of the most longstanding, volatile issues facing rural Alaskan users of migratory birds. 124 Cong.Rec. 31,532 (1978) (emphasis added). Third, the statutory amendment was enacted in anticipation of treaty modifications that the executive was then seeking to negotiate. See Hearings at 7645. Congress wanted to avoid the necessity of amending the MBTA each time a treaty was amended. Id. 36 The treaties with Canada, Mexico, and Japan have not been modified. 4 Thus, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to issue regulations permitting subsistence hunting, but only to the extent that the regulations are in accord with all four treaties. 37 Subsistence hunting is regulated differently by each convention. The four treaties use different means to designate which birds are protected by the particular treaty, but all treaties protect the migratory birds covered by the Hooper Bay Agreement and the 1985 Goose Management Plan. See United States-Canada Convention, art. I; United States-Mexico Convention, art. IV; United States-Japan Convention, Annex 38, 39, 41; United States-USSR, Appendix. See also 50 C.F.R. Sec. 10.13 (1986). The United States-Canada Convention requires a closed season between March 10 and September 1 of each year and limits the open season to three and one-half months. See United States-Canada Convention, art. II(1). It contains exceptions for Indians and Eskimos, but these exceptions do not apply to the hunting of the birds named in the Hooper Bay Agreement or the 1985 Goose Management Plan. Id. at art. II(3). The United States-Mexico Convention does not set dates for a closed season, but states that the open season may not exceed four months each year. See United States-Mexico Convention, art. II(A), (C). The United States-Mexico Convention does not mention subsistence hunting by Alaskan Natives. The United States-Japan Convention does not require a specific closed season. Instead, it provides that each country shall set its hunting season so as to avoid [the birds'] principal nesting seasons and to maintain their populations in optimum numbers. See United States-Japan Convention, art. III(2). A subsistence hunting provision is specifically included, but its application is restricted to Eskimos, Indians and indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands if the taking is for their own food and clothing. United States-Japan Convention, Id. at art. III(1)(e). The United States-Soviet Union Convention explicitly provides for subsistence hunting by Alaskan Natives. See United States-Soviet Convention, art. II(1)(c). It permits the Secretary to set a specific hunting season for subsistence hunting by Alaskan Natives. Id. at Art. II(2). This season must provide for the preservation and maintenance of stocks of migratory birds. United States-Soviet Convention, Id. 38 The United States-Canada Convention is the most restrictive of the four treaties, and all of the Secretary's regulations must be in accord with that treaty. Therefore the Secretary may adopt regulations that permit subsistence hunting for up to three and one-half months between September 1 and March 10 of each year. Closed season subsistence hunting by Alaskan Natives is not permitted by the MBTA.