Sea Otter Population Counts 

 by the Fish and Wildlife Service and 

 the California Department of Fish and Game 1982-1987 



Total 



1346 

 1338 



1251 

 1226 



1304 



1360 

 1221 



1570 

 1201 



1650 

 1367 



* 



* 



* 

 * 



* Surveys conducted since implementation of State bans 

 on use of entanglement nets beginning in January 1985. 



Sea Otter Amendment to the Endangered Species Act and the 

 Translocation Decision Process 



To promote protection and recovery of the California sea 

 otter population while minimizing adverse effects on commercial 

 and recreational fisheries, the Commission, as noted earlier, 

 recommended in December 1980 that the Fish and Wildlife Service 

 adopt and implement a management strategy recognizing the 

 ultimate need for "zonal" management of sea otters and the 

 need to establish one or more sea otter colonies at a site or 

 sites not likely to be affected by an oil spill in or near 

 the population's current range. The Service concurred with 

 the Commission's recommendation and, as described in previous 

 Commission Reports, initiated a study in 1981 to identify and 

 evaluate possible translocation sites in California, Oregon, 

 and Washington. The project was completed in May 1984. In 

 June 1984, the Service announced its intention to prepare an 

 environmental impact statement on a proposal to translocate a 

 portion of the California sea otter population to a site 

 within the species' historic range off the Pacific coast of 

 the United States. 



As part of the preparation process, the Service held public 

 meetings on 23 and 24 July 1984 in Santa Barbara and Monterey, 



41 



