II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 254
To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to protect the cultural
practices and livelihoods of producers of Alaska Native handicrafts and
marine mammal ivory products, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY24, 2025
Mr. S
ULLIVAN(for himself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to
protect the cultural practices and livelihoods of producers
of Alaska Native handicrafts and marine mammal ivory
products, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Alaska’s Right To 4
Ivory Sales and Tradition Act’’ or the ‘‘ARTIST Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. ALASKA NATIVE HANDICRAFTS. 1
Section 101(b) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act 2
Of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1371(b)) is amended to read as fol-3
lows: 4
‘‘(b) E
XEMPTION FORALASKANNATIVES.— 5
‘‘(1) D
EFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 6
‘‘(A) A
UTHENTIC ALASKA NATIVE ARTICLE 7
OF HANDICRAFTS AND CLOTHING .—The term 8
‘authentic Alaska Native article of handicrafts 9
and clothing’ means an item composed wholly, 10
or in some significant respect, of natural mate-11
rials that is produced, decorated, or fashioned 12
in the exercise of traditional Alaska Native 13
handicrafts by an Indian, Aleut, or Eskimo who 14
resides in Alaska and who dwells on the coast 15
of the North Pacific Ocean or the Arctic Ocean 16
without the use of a pantograph, multiple 17
carvers, or any other mass copying device. 18
‘‘(B) M
ARINE MAMMAL IVORY .—The term 19
‘marine mammal ivory’ includes a tooth or tusk 20
from a species of walrus, narwhal, or whale. 21
‘‘(C) T
RADITIONAL ALASKA NATIVE 22
HANDICRAFTS.—The term ‘traditional Alaska 23
Native handicrafts’ includes weaving, carving, 24
stitching, sewing, lacing, beading, drawing, and 25
painting. 26
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‘‘(2) EXEMPTION.— 1
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 2
section 109, the provisions of this Act shall not 3
apply with respect to the taking of any marine 4
mammal by any Indian, Aleut, or Eskimo who 5
resides in Alaska and who dwells on the coast 6
of the North Pacific Ocean or the Arctic Ocean 7
if such taking— 8
‘‘(i)(I) is for subsistence purposes; or 9
‘‘(II) is done for purposes of creating 10
and selling authentic Alaska Native articles 11
of handicrafts and clothing; and 12
‘‘(ii) in each case, is not accomplished 13
in a wasteful manner. 14
‘‘(B) S
PECIAL RULES.— 15
‘‘(i) I
NTERSTATE COMMERCE OF 16
ITEMS.—An item presented as an authen-17
tic Alaska Native article of handicrafts and 18
clothing may be sold in interstate com-19
merce only if it comports with the defini-20
tion provided in paragraph (1)(A). 21
‘‘(ii) E
DIBLE PORTION OF MARINE 22
MAMMAL.—Any edible portion of a marine 23
mammal taken for the primary purpose of 24
creating and selling authentic Alaska Na-25
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tive articles of handicrafts and clothing 1
may be sold in a native village or town in 2
Alaska or for native consumption. 3
‘‘(3) L
IMITATIONS.— 4
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para-5
graph (2), if, under this Act, the Secretary de-6
termines any species or stock of marine mam-7
mal subject to taking by Indians, Aleuts, or Es-8
kimos to be depleted, the Secretary may pre-9
scribe regulations upon the taking of such ma-10
rine mammals by any Indian, Aleut, or Eskimo 11
described in this subsection. 12
‘‘(B) C
ONTENT OF REGULATIONS .—The 13
regulations described in subparagraph (A) may 14
be established with reference to species or 15
stocks, geographical description of the area in-16
cluded, the season for taking, or any other fac-17
tors related to the reason for establishing such 18
regulations and consistent with the purposes of 19
this Act. 20
‘‘(C) N
OTICE AND HEARING; REMOVAL OF 21
REGULATIONS.—The regulations described in 22
subparagraph (A) shall be prescribed after no-23
tice and hearing required by section 103 of this 24
title and shall be removed as soon as the Sec-25
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retary determines that the need for their impo-1
sition has disappeared. 2
‘‘(D) R
EGULATIONS TO BE SUPPORTED BY 3
SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE .—In promulgating any 4
regulation or making any assessment pursuant 5
to a hearing or proceeding under this sub-6
section or section 117(b)(2), or in making any 7
determination of depletion under this subsection 8
or finding regarding unmitigable adverse im-9
pacts under subsection (a)(5) that affects 10
stocks or persons to which this subsection ap-11
plies, the Secretary shall demonstrate in writing 12
(and make such writing publicly available on 13
the website of the Secretary) that, in consider-14
ation of the whole record, including Indigenous 15
knowledge, such regulation, assessment, deter-16
mination, or finding is supported by substantial 17
evidence. The preceding sentence shall only be 18
applicable in an action brought by one or more 19
Alaska Native organizations representing per-20
sons to which this subsection applies. 21
‘‘(4) P
ROHIBITIONS.—No State shall prohibit 22
the importation, sale, offer for sale, transfer, trade, 23
barter, possession, or possession with the intent to 24
sell, transfer, trade, or barter of marine mammal 25
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ivory or marine mammal bone or baleen incorporated 1
under this title by an Indian, Aleut, or Eskimo, into 2
an authentic Alaska Native article of handicrafts 3
and clothing.’’. 4
Æ
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