Creation of a Sea Otter Translocation Program and Management Zone

Because of conflicts with fisheries caused by sea otters, in November of 1986, Congress passed Public Law 99-625, which called for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to establish a "no-otter management zone" extending from Point Conception in Santa Barbara County south to the Mexican border. Under this law, the Service was required to "use all feasible non-lethal means" to remove and relocate any sea otters found in the management zone.

Unfortunately, the translocation program has proven to be a failure. By the year 2000, experts had projected a population of 400-500 sea otters at San Nicolas Island. But instead, fifteen years after last sea otter was released at the Island, less than 40 of the relocated otters remain. Some otters returned to the mainland to the north, while others moved into a no-otter management zone created in November of 1986.

The conservation and scientific research communities believe the translocation program and the no-otter management zone have not been a success and have, in fact, run counter to the goal of southern sea otter recovery. Less than one fifth of the original animals relocated to San Nicolas Island are accounted for, and sea otters have been moving in and out of the management zone seasonally since 1998. In addition, the southern sea otter population has declined or failed to increase in seven of ten years between 1995 and 2005.

Since the passage of the Congressional law in 1986, the Fish and Wildlife Service has changed its position regarding translocation, arguing against moving any otters that swam into the "no-otter management zone".