Chapter 11 — Species of Special Concern 



non-target fish species also were being caught and 

 killed in the fisheries. 



The State of California, recognizing the problems 

 being caused by these non-selective fishing practices, 

 enacted a series of regulations starting in 1982 to 

 prohibit the use of gill and trammel nets in areas 

 where seabirds, sea otters, and other marine mammals 

 were likely to become entangled. The prohibitions 

 have reduced the incidental take of sea otters and, as 

 shown in Table 6, subsequent counts suggest that the 

 population increase has resumed. The restrictions did 

 not, however, eliminate the incidental entanglement of 

 sea otters. Therefore, in 1990, the State of California 

 enacted legislation prohibiting use of gill and trammel 

 nets in waters shallower than 30 fathoms throughout 

 most of the sea otter range in the State. There have 

 been no reports of sea otters being taken in the closed 

 area since the legislation went into effect. 



The Southern Sea Otter Recovery Plan — As 



noted in the Commission's previous Annual Report, 

 the Fish and Wildlife Service reconstituted the South- 

 ern Sea Otter Recovery Team in 1989 to review and 

 recommend changes necessary to update the Southern 

 Sea Otter Recovery Plan. This action was precipitat- 

 ed, in part, by the Exxon Valdez oil spill that occurred 

 in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on 24 March 1989 

 (see Chapter VII for information on the spill). 



The Recovery Team reviewed and subsequently 

 recommended revision of the Recovery Plan. Taking 

 into account the Recovery Team's recommendations, 

 the Fish and Wildlife Service developed and, in 

 August 1991, provided a draft revised Recovery Plan 

 to the Commission and others for review and com- 

 ment. The Commission, in consultation with its 

 Conmiittee of Scientific Advisors, reviewed and 

 provided comments on the draft revision to the 

 Service by letter of 8 November 1991. In its com- 

 ments, the Commission noted that the draft Recovery 

 Plan revision appeared to reflect four conclusions: 



• the Exxon Valdez oil spill had demonstrated that 

 (a) the entire southern sea otter range, including 

 San Nicolas Island, could be contacted by a single 

 large oil spill occurring in or near the population's 

 California range, and (b) efforts to contain a large 



Table 6. Sea Otter Population Counts by the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service and the 

 California Department of Fish and 

 Game, 1982 - 1991 



oil spill and to capture and rehabilitate oiled otters 

 are likely to be unsuccessful; 



• efforts to establish the reserve breeding colony at 

 San Nicolas Island have thus far been unsuccessful 

 and, if successful, will not provide an adequate 

 basis for removing the southern sea otter from the 

 List of Endangered and Threatened Species; 



• the only effective way to eliminate the risk of an 

 oil spill endangering the southern sea otter popula- 



45 



