LOS ANGELES, Ca. — August 2, 2013 — The federal government's termination of a sea otter management zone in Southern California will be disastrous for the shellfish industry, as otters are voracious eaters of urchins, abalone and lobster, commercial fishermen claim in court.
The California Sea Urchin Commission and three other industry groups sued the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for its termination of a program enacted by Congress in 1986 that created an "otter-free" management zone south of Point Conception in Santa Barbara County.
Killing the program "will lead to a population approaching 300 otters residing within the management zone within a decade. Consequently, sustainable shellfish and other marine fisheries in Southern California will be severely compromised if not destroyed," the fishermen say in the federal complaint.
Plaintiffs include Other plaintiffs the California Abalone Association, the California Lobster and Trap Fishermen's Association, and Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara.
The sea otter was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 1977, due to habitat loss, hunting, and risks from a Southern California oil spill. To protect the otters, the Marine Mammal Commission proposed relocating California sea otters.
But "the fishing community was greatly opposed to expanding the otter's range, reasonably fearing that the otter would destroy shellfish and other marine resources," the complaint states.
Congress enacted Public Law 99-625 "to balance the otter's recovery needs with the interests of fishermen," the industry groups say.
The plan moved an experimental population of 140 southern sea otters from Monterey Bay to San Nicolas Island.