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U.S. Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Case Surrounding Sea Otters; Environmentalists Declare Victory

(Photo courtesy Monterey Bay Aquarium)
A Southern Sea Otter

There’s one of the smallest marine mammals, and among of the most amazing. But, hunters drove them to near extinction. Where the otters can, and should live has been the focus of a three decade long fight which finally ended this month when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

The battle started in the mid-1980’s, as part of an effort to save the threatened species. With only one major colony of the once plentiful otters still in existence, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wanted to make sure they wouldn’t be wiped out by disease, or an oil spill. 140 otters were transplanted to San Nicholas Island, in the Channel Islands, with the hope it would lead to a new otter community.

Steve Shimick is a biologist with a non-profit group called “The Otter Project.” He says not everyone liked the idea of re-introducing the otters to areas where they hadn’t lived for decades. As part of a compromise with fishermen, and the Navy, a no-otter zone was established from Pt. Conception to the Mexican border. It meant otters in the area would be trapped, and relocated.

Only 11 of the 140 sea otters introduced to San Nicholas Island stuck it out, with the rest swimming back to the mainland, or just disappearing.   Shimick says when the effort to enhance the species failed, the no-otter zone was supposed to be dissolved, giving them the chance to gradually repopulate the region on their own.

But, it wasn’t, prompting The Otter Project and the Santa Barbara based Environmental Defense Center to file suit. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service terminated the zone in 2012. But some fishing industry groups fought that action, taking it all the way to the Supreme Court.

The Otter Project biologist says the concern was focused on how otters impact the region’s fisheries. Shimick says there’s no question otters affect the marine environment, but notes that they are a natural part of it.

The sea otters have made a bit of a comeback, but their numbers are still just a fraction of what they were before hunters discovered the other population in the 1800’s.

The biologist says having the suit settled once and for all will allow more energy to be focused on otter recovery efforts.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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