MONTEREY, Calif. - Supporters of sea otters along the California coast are thrilled about new developments made Wednesday, to improve the population. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has published its final decision to end southern California's "no-otter" zone.
The zone was put in place nearly 25 years ago as part of a "translocation program" that sought to create a new population of sea otters on San Nicolas Island, one of the Channel Islands. However, that translocation program failed, and the no-otter zone meant that California's threatened sea otters were prevented from reoccupying historic habitat needed for their recovery.
Friends of the Sea Otter, Monterey Bay Aquarium, The Humane Society of the United States, Defenders of Wildlife, and Oceans Public Trust Initiative, are applauding this final decision by FWS as a positive step toward the ultimate restoration of a healthy sea otter population along our coast.
California sea otters are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. In 1986 the translocation program was designed as a way to establish a second viable population that would protect the species in the event of an oil spill or other environmental disaster. As part of this program, FWS agreed to create a "no-otter" zone south of Point Conception from which sea otters would be captured and moved back north of the zone's boundary.
Translocation failed to promote sea otter recovery, and FWS subsequently determined that enforcement of the "no-otter" zone jeopardized the continued survival of the species because of the harm caused when moving sea otters out of the no-otter zone. FWS has long recognized that natural range expansion is necessary to achieve recovery of the California sea otter.
Jim Curland, Advocacy Program Director, Friends of the Sea Otter said, "It is long overdue, but a great day for sea otters to have this impediment to natural range expansion lifted."
"Sea otters face very real threats, from coastal pollution to a rise in deaths from shark bites," said Andy Johnson, manager of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Sea Otter Research and Conservation Program. "The ‘no-otter' zone was another barrier to their recovery. It's great news that this impediment has been removed."
Friends of the Sea Otter is committed to and advocates for the conservation of sea otters and the preservation of their habitat, through education, research, and policy decisions that will ensure the long-term survival of this species. Visit www.seaotters.org
Photo Courtesy: Peggy Patterson
