MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



tion is to substantially increase the population's 

 range and size; and 



• the risk of endangerment as a result of oil spills 

 will not be eliminated (i.e., become insignificant) 

 until the population's range has expanded north to 

 the Oregon border and the population numbers at 

 least 5,400 animals (60 percent of the estimated 

 carrying capacity of the species' potential range in 

 California, excluding San Francisco Bay and the 

 area south of Point Conception). 



The Commission noted that, while these conclu- 

 sions seem intuitively reasonable, they were not ade- 

 quately supported by the information and analyses in 

 the draft revised recovery plan. The draft revision 

 did not, for example, indicate why the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service and/or the Recovery Team believed 

 that the threat posed by oil spills could not be effec- 

 tively eliminated by altering tanker routes or taking 

 other steps to reduce the risk of an oil spill occurring 

 in or near the California sea otter range, or by devel- 

 oping a more effective oil spill response plan and pre- 

 positioning containment and clean-up equipment to 

 reduce the possibility of sea otters' being impacted if 

 an oil spill does occur. Further, the draft revision 

 provided no explanation for the apparent determina- 

 tions that (1) nothing can or should be done to expe- 

 dite natural range expansion, and (2) only the present 

 California sea otter range and coastal areas north to 

 the Oregon border (excluding San Francisco Bay) 

 should be considered in determining the optimum 

 sustainable sea otter population. On a related matter, 

 the Commission noted that the draft revision appeared 

 to be proposing or recommending, but did not explain 

 the rationale for, repeal of Public Law 99-625 and the 

 related regulations and agreements that allowed 

 establishment of the reserve breeding colony at San 

 Nicolas Island, and maintaining the southern boundary 

 of the sea otter population at Point Conception to 

 prevent adverse effects on shellfish and other fisheries 

 in the Channel Islands and the California Bight. 



In light of these uncertainties, the Commission 

 recommended that a second draft of the proposed 

 Recovery Plan revision be done and be provided to 

 the Commission and others for review and comment 

 before it is considered for adoption by the Service. 



The Alaska Sea Otter Population 



Available information suggests that small groups 

 of sea otters survived the era of commercial exploi- 

 tation in several remote areas of Alaska (e.g.. Rat 

 Islands, Delarof Island, False Pass, Sandman Reefs, 

 Shumigan Islands, Kodiak Island, and Prince William 

 Sound). Since then, sea otters have repopulated most 

 of their former range in Alaska although they have not 

 yet reached historic levels in some areas. No sea 

 otters survived in southeast Alaska and repopulation 

 of this area was initiated by translocating otters from 

 Amchitka Island and Prince William Sound in the late 

 1960s and early 1970s. 



The most recent surveys indicate that there are 

 100,000 to 150,000 sea otters in Alaska. Although 

 the population currently is healthy and growing, there 

 are a number of existing and foreseeable threats and 

 conservation issues. These include (1) conflicts with 

 commercial, subsistence and recreational shellfish 

 fisheries that have developed in the absence of sea 

 otters; (2) incidental take in gill net and other fisher- 

 ies; (3) oil and gas development and transportation; 

 (4) logging, mariculture, and other coastal develop- 

 ment; (5) Native subsistence hunting; and (6) the 

 increasing tourist industry in Alaska. The reality of 

 these threats is illustrated by the Exxon Valdez oil 

 spill, which is estimated to have killed 3,500 to 5,500 

 sea otters in Prince William Sound and adjacent areas 

 (see Chapter VII). 



Recognizing the threats and possible conflicts 

 being generated by increasing human populations and 

 development in Alaska, the Commission in 1984 

 initiated efforts to assess the state of knowledge and 

 identify conservation issues regarding sea otters and 

 nine other species of marine mammals that occur 

 commonly in State waters. This effort led to the 

 publication in 1988 of species accounts, with research 

 and management recommendations, for each of the ten 

 species (see Appendix B, Lentfer 1988). 



As noted in Chapter VII and previous Commission 

 reports, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, as 

 amended in 1988, directs that the Secretaries of the 

 Interior and Commerce develop conservation plans for 

 depleted and, when appropriate, for non-depleted 

 marine mammal species and populations. Also as 



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