Defenders of Wildlife and Sea Otter Defense Initiative Praise Decision in California Sea Otter Lawsuit
On Monday, July 30, 2001, the parties
filed a stipulation with the United States District Court requesting that the
Court dismiss the Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara lawsuit against United
States Fish and Wildlife Service that seeks to force the Service to capture and
remove southern sea otters that have migrated south of Point Conception in Santa
Barbara County into a “no otter zone" or management zone. The stipulation
reflects the decision of the plaintiff fishing groups not to
proceed with
their lawsuit.
Jim Curland, Marine Program Associate with Defenders of Wildlife stated: "We are pleased this lawsuit has been withdrawn. The end result of what the fishing groups were seeking -- forcing sea otters to stay out of their historic habitat range that is needed to avoid extinction -- was a serious threat to this species."
In April 2000, the Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara and others challenged the Fish and Wildlife Service's decision not to capture and remove southern sea otters that had migrated into an area designated as a "no otter zone" or the "management zone" south of Point Conception. Defenders of Wildlife (Defenders), The Ocean Conservancy, and Friends of the Sea Otter intervened in the action to defend the Service's decision not to capture and remove sea otters in the management zone. The Humane Society of the United States and the Animal Protection Institute participated as amici curiae. The environmental groups were concerned that any effort to capture and remove sea otters would result in otter fatalities, impede recovery efforts and violate the Endangered Species Act.
"We are glad this threat to sea otter range expansion off the Santa Barbara coast has been removed," said Cindy Lowry, Director of SODI. "We now hope to move forward with more important initiatives that will bring about full recovery of the southern sea otter population."
The management zone was developed in the late 1980s as a compromise that allowed the translocation of up to 150 sea otters to San Nicolas Island, one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara. At the time, it was believed that a separate breeding colony of otters at San Nicolas Island would provide the species protection from a catastrophic event such as an oil spill along the central coast of California. It was hoped that by now a breeding colony of 400 otters would inhabit the waters surrounding San Nicolas Island. Less than 25 otters remain at San Nicolas Island.
In an action prior to the lawsuit, the Service initiated a complete review and evaluation of the current translocation program that created the management zone. The Service's review will determine whether the translocation program should be modified or terminated altogether based upon the lack of sea otters at San Nicolas Island and other new information regarding the recovery needs of the species such as range expansion.
The decision in this lawsuit comes at a time following the release of the results of the Spring 2001 southern sea otter census, which documented 2,161 animals, a significant decrease of 6.7% from 2,317 sea otters counted in the Spring 2000 census. The first signs of a decline of this population came after the 1995, when the California sea otter reached an all time high of 2,377 animals. Had the population continued to increase since 1995 at an average annual rate of 5%, by now we should have more than 3,000 animals. Instead, we have little more than 2,000 sea otters in this population.
Defenders and SODI will continue to play a leading role in the efforts to attain recovery for the California sea otter through advocacy, education and facilitation of directing federal and state money towards critical sea otter research. Additionally, both environmental groups will monitor critical threats to the California sea otter such as entrapment in fisheries gear, disease and habitat degradation through human impacts and continue to press the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to finalize the very important document, The Southern Sea Otter Recovery Plan.
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Defenders of Wildlife is a leading
non-profit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation’s most
progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 425,000
members and supporters -- more than 100,000 of which are in California --
Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species
issues.
The Sea Otter Defense Initiative is a newly formed entity
under the Earth Island Institute. The organization based in Santa Barbara, CA.
is dedicated to removing obstacles to range expansion and full sea otter
recovery through public education and media/grassroots campaigns. Earth Island
Institute is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to protecting the
diversity of life on Earth.
Contact(s):
Cat Lazaroff, (202) 772-3270
