Five-Year Status Review 



The Endangered Species Act, as amended, requires that 

 the Fish and Wildlife Service review the status of all 

 species designated as either "threatened" or "endangered" at 

 least once every five years. In partial fulfillment of this 

 responsibility, the Service, on 27 September 1982, published 

 a Federal Register notice requesting information on the 

 status of the southern sea otter population and a number of 

 other listed species. 



To provide a better basis for assessing population 

 status, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the California 

 Department of Fish and Game jointly conducted a population 

 count in November 1982. During the count, 1,194 independent 

 otters and 144 dependent pups were seen along the coast of 

 California between Point Concepcion and Point Ano Nuevo. 

 During a comparable count in 1976, 1,357 independent otters 

 and 85 pups were seen. The differences between the 1976 and 

 19 82 counts indicate that the population has not grown, and 

 may have declined since 1976. 



From 1976 through 1982, the number of dead otters found 

 on California beaches averaged about 100 per year. This is 

 approximately seven percent of the aforementioned population 

 counts, and is only part of the actual annual mortality. 

 Thus, it seems likely that annual mortality has been close to 

 or greater than gross annual recruitment since 1976 or before. 



Recent studies indicate that sea otters, several other 

 species of marine mammals, several species of marine birds, 

 and non-target fish species are being taken incidentally in 

 gill net fisheries in Monterey Bay and other coastal areas 

 of California. This take may be responsible, at least in 

 part, for the lack of growth and possible population decline. 

 The California Department of Fish and Game is developing a 

 program to document the nature and extent of this incidental 

 take, and the Commission, as noted in Chapter II, has provided 

 funds to augment the ongoing studies and to determine how 

 programs being conducted, supported, or planned by other 

 agencies and organizations might be used to facilitate data 

 collection. 



The Commission, in consultation with its Committee of 

 Scientific Advisors, currently is reviewing available 

 information concerning the distribution, size, and productivity 

 of the southern sea otter population, and the nature and 

 extent of incidental taking and possible threats from oil 

 spills or other catastrophic events. The results of this 

 review will be conveyed to the Fish and Wildlife Service 

 early in 1983. 



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