Defenders' Experts
Southern Sea Otter Management and Policy
The southern, or California, sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis), has faced a variety of threats and impacts over the nearly seven decades since it was re-discovered off the Big Sur coast.
Sea otter management and policy in California has revolved around four major efforts:
- Development of a Final Revised Recovery Plan for the Southern Sea Otter
- State and Federal legislation Affecting Southern Sea Otters
- Regulatory Change
- Creation of a Sea Otter Translocation Program and Management Zone
Recovery Plan for the Southern Sea Otter
Southern sea otters are listed a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). After more than 20 years of effort, a recovery plan for southern sea otters was released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in April of 2003. The recovery plan outlines a series of guidelines and recommendations designed to facilitate the recovery of southern sea otters in hopes of eventually achieving sufficient recovery so that the species may be removed from the endangered species list.
Read the Southern Sea Otter Recovery Plan >>
State and Federal Legislation Affecting Southern Sea Otters
Southern sea otters have benefited by having champions both in the U.S. Congress and the California state legislature.
Federal Legislation in Progress
U.S. Representative Sam Farr (D-CA) first introduced the Southern Sea Otter Recovery and Research Act in 2003. This legislation would authorize $5 million/year for 5 years to fund key research needs pertaining to California sea otter health and recovery.
In April 2008, 5 expert witnesses, including Defenders’ Jim Curland, Dr. Jim Estes, a world-renowned expert on sea otters, and Andy Johnson, manager of the Sea Otter Research and Conservation Program at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, were called to testify on this bill.
Read Jim Curland's written and oral testimony.
During Summer 2009, Defenders of Wildlife activists sent more than 63,000 messages to their U.S. representatives in support of the Southern Sea Otter Recovery and Research Act (H.R. 556). The bill faced stiff opposition from a vocal minority in Congress and was forced to a floor vote that required 2/3 majority to pass. Thanks in large part to the thousands of messages from Defenders supporters, the bill passed by a vote of 316-107 at the end of July 2009. It is now up to the U.S. Senate to pass a similar bill in order for this important wildlife-saving legislation to become law.
2006 California Sea Otter Law
Defenders of Wildlife led the way in 2006 in passing this landmark legislation and will continue to be the lead organization to ensure that the various goals of this bill to help sea otter recovery will be implemented.
The bill, AB 2485, was co-authored by Assemblyman Dave Jones (Sacramento) and Assemblyman John Laird (Santa Cruz). This law is a critical step to save our sea otters and safeguard California’s coastal ecosystems by increasing protections for sea otters and providing direct funding towards sea otter research, conservation and recovery programs.
AB 2485 provides additional protections for sea otters by:
- Establishing the California Sea Otter Fund tax check-off on California state income tax forms which supports researchers who are working to understand the impacts facing the threatened sea otter and to find ways to recover their population in California.
- Requiring labeling of cat litter packaging (law went into effect January 1, 2007) to discourage the flushing of cat litter, potentially reducing a key source of a deadly parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, in waste water
- Establishing a fund, whereby fifty percent of the revenues goes to the Department of Fish and Game for the purposes of establishing a sea otter fund to be used within the department's index coding system for increased investigation, prevention, and enforcement actions and the remaining fifty percent goes to the California Coastal Conservancy for research and programs related to improving the near-shore ocean ecosystem, including, but not limited to, program activities to reduce sea otter mortality. The programs may also address pathogens and water and wastewater treatment technologies
- Increasing fines and penalties for the harming of sea otters up to $25,000
Regulatory Changes Helping Sea Otters
On occasion, regulatory changes are needed to assist in sea otter recovery. Defenders of Wildlife works to ensure that regulatory changes are made that will benefit sea otter recovery.
Land-based impacts on water quality critically affect sea otter health. Defenders of Wildlife and other groups strongly advocate for changes that improve water quality for sea otters.
Our efforts include:
- Developing a stronger Monterey Stormwater Management Plan
- Addressing the problems of discharges into Areas of Special Biological Significance
- Ensuring strong water quality protection efforts and goals listed in the California Ocean Protection Council’s Five-Year Strategic Plan
Fishing gear regulations also can impact sea otters so Defenders of Wildlife and other groups have been involved in efforts to affect regulatory changes on the Central Coast Set Gillnet Fishery and other fisheries that conflict with sea otters.
Creation of a Sea Otter Translocation Program and Management Zone
Between 1987 and 1990, 140 sea otters were moved to a translocation zone off San Nicolas Island, approximately 60 miles off the Los Angeles coast, to create an experimental colony. The translocation program was initiated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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. Defenders of Wildlife and other groups testified at hearings and has provided extensive written comments.
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