Because of its small size and limited distribution, and 

 the increasing risk of oil spills and other catastrophic 

 events, the California sea otter population was designated as 

 threatened under the Endangered Species Act in January 1977. 

 The most effective way to insure that the population is not 

 threatened by oil spills is to establish one or more sea 

 otter colonies outside the population's present range. However, 

 such an action could adversely affect commercial and recre- 

 ational fisheries for abalone, clams, and other invertebrates 

 eaten by sea otters. It also could reduce populations of sea 

 urchins and other species that consume kelp, and thus benefit 

 the kelp industry and both recreational and commercial fisheries 

 for finfish that inhabit kelp beds. 



The Commission recognized the need to minimize possible 

 adverse effects on commercial and recreational fisheries as 

 well as to protect the California sea otter population. 

 Accordingly, in December 1980, it recommended 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 Fish and 

 Wildlife Service concurred with the Commission's recommendation 

 and incorporated the zonal management concept into the Southern 

 Sea Otter Recovery Plan, adopted in February 1982. 



Past Commission efforts to help with development and 

 implementation of an effective Southern Sea Otter Recovery 

 Plan are described in previous Annual Reports. The Commission's 

 activities in this regard in 1987 are summarized below. 



Incidental Take 



When the California sea otter population was listed as 

 threatened in January 1977, it was assumed that the population 

 was increasing and would continue to increase at about five 

 percent per year for the foreseeable future. However, as noted 

 in previous Commission reports, subsequent studies indicated 

 that substantial numbers of sea otters were being caught and 

 killed incidentally in coastal gill and trammel net fisheries 

 and that this incidental take may have been sufficient to 

 stop and reverse the population increase. From June 1982 to 

 January 1985, 29 sea otters were observed drowned or were 

 otherwise known to have drowned in commercial fishing nets. 

 Only a small fraction of fishing nets set in or near the sea 

 otter range were observed, and in a report issued in 1984, the 

 California Department of Fish and Game estimated that an 

 average of 105 otters were caught and killed in fishing nets 

 each year between 1973 and 1983. Estimates of the fishing 

 effort and sea otter mortality are shown in the following 

 table, prepared by the California Department of Fish and Game. 



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