End the No-Otter Zone!
- by: Friends of the Sea Otter
- recipient: US Department of Fish and Game
Since 1987 there has been an invisible border that extends from Point Conception, CA (just north of Santa Barbara) out into the sea. North of this line exists the range of the southern sea otter: an iconic and threatened marine mammal that plays a keystone role in maintaining an ecologically-rich and abundant nearshore marine ecosystem teeming with life. South of this line exists the "No-Otter Zone:" a sea that is artificially-managed to remain otter-free and that is bereft of the biodiversity and richness that results from sea otter habitation.
The southern sea otter is listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act and "depleted" under the Marine Mammal Protection Act while its population has dwindled in recent years. Its artificially-limited range exposes the species to other major threats including oil spills, disease, food scarcity, and habitat degredation through water pollution and agricultural runoff that could further decrease its numbers and push it towards extinction.
Sea otters once numbered in the tens of thousands off the coast of California until fur trappers reduced the population to a mere 50 animals by the twentieth century. Back from the brink of extinction, the southern sea otter is still struggling to adapt and co-exist within a human-influenced coastal environment and narrow range.
The southern sea otter must be allowed to naturally expand its range in order to recover and meet the challenges and threats facing it today. The No-Otter Zone must be terminated for the southern sea otter to return to its historic habitat and reach a population and geographic range that ensures its future survival.
Please sign this petition as the US Fish and Wildlife Service begins to review the No-Otter Zone. Your signature will give voice to the Southern Sea Otter and all those who favor its natural range expansion and a healthy, diverse nearshore marine environment. Don't let your voice go unheard! Sign today!
For more information on the No-Otter Zone or Friends of the Sea Otter, please click here.
The Service identified in their own Biological Opinion (2000) and Final Revised Recovery Plan for the Southern Sea Otter (2003) that limiting the freedom of sea otters to naturally expand their range is detrimental to their recovery. Indeed, the southern sea otter population has declined in recent years according to the USGS 2010 census.
We the undersigned encourage the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to finalize their proposed determination to end the No-Otter Zone while protecting the otters at San Nicolas Island.
Thank you for your time.
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