I've
pasted the letter below with the names of the current list of
signators.
Dear Marmam members,
We are on the home stretch for providing written comments on the Draft
SEIS for the Southern Sea Otter Translocation Program (DSEIS). The
public comment deadline has been extended until March 6,
2006. A coalition
of groups that are working on drafting comments (Defenders of Wildlife,
The Ocean Conservancy, Friends of the Sea Otter, Sea Otter Defense
Initiative, a project of Earth Island Institute's International Marine
Mammal Project, and The Humane Society of the United States) thought
it would be good to circulate a letter to get sign-ons for this very
critical policy issue for southern sea otter recovery. Currently
we have 42 signatures and we would love to get, at a minimum 100. So,
we at least need 58 more names. Please let me
know (all of my contact information is below this letter): your name,
title, affiliation if you would like to sign on to this letter. We
thank those of you who signed the letter! If you would like to
sign
on, please let me know by February 28th (three weeks from today).
If you have
any interest in reviewing any of the SEIS before agreeing to sign on,
please visit:
http://www.fws.gov/ventura/es/SSOrecplan/seaotter_index.html
Thanks,
Jim Curland, Marine Program Associate
Defenders of Wildlife
LETTER FROM CONCERNED SCIENTISTS
February XX, 2006 or March XX, 2006
Diane Noda
Field Supervisor
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office
2493 Portola Road, Suite B
Ventura, California 93003-7726
Dear Diane Noda:
We applaud the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) preferred
alternative presented in the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (DSEIS) on the translocation of southern sea otters. The
DSEIS represents an important and scientifically responsible step
toward successfully recovering the southern sea otter. In the final
SEIS and proposed regulations to implement it, we strongly urge the FWS
to implement the preferred alternative of terminating the Southern Sea
Otter translocation program, ending the no-otter management zone south
of Pt. Conception, and allowing the sea otters currently residing south
of Pt. Conception, including sea otters residing around San Nicolas
Island (SNI), to remain. This action will allow sea otters to move
freely and naturally expand their range, which will help ensure this
species’ survival and recovery.
Historically, the southern sea otter could be found all along the
California coast and into Baja California, likely numbering 16,000 in
the 1800s. Fur traders then killed almost all southern sea otters, with
only a few dozen surviving in a remote cove off of Big Sur. They were
declared threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1977, and
today there are about 2,500 sea otters along our coast. Sea otters are
the classic example of a keystone species. Sea otters allow for a
natural check in the nearshore ecosystem by keeping populations of
invertebrate grazers, such as sea urchins, from overtaking the system
and denuding the kelp forests. The near-extinction of sea otters along
the California coast altered the coastal ecosystem; bringing back sea
otters throughout their range represents a critical step to restoring
coastal ecosystems—creating healthy kelp forests and diverse
populations of fish and invertebrate species.
In 1987, the FWS began a translocation program to establish a new
colony of southern sea otters on SNI in an attempt to protect the
species from a catastrophic event (e.g. oil spill) and ultimately
restore their dwindling numbers off the coast of California. Out of the
original 140 sea otters translocated from 1987-1990 to SNI, just over
30 remain at the island today. The others either died or swam away and
three years after the translocation program ended in 1990, there were
fewer than 25 sea otters at SNI. While the population at SNI has shown
some signs of recruitment, it is far from the predicted viable
population that FWS estimated at between 150-500 sea otters.
In addition, capturing and transporting sea otters tends to be
unsuccessful because typically the sea otter is harmed or simply swims
back to its initial location. For example, between 1987 and 1993, 24
sea otters were moved, 4 of those animals died. Also introducing a new
sea otter into an already existing group of sea otters may disrupt the
established social hierarchy of that group. Because moving sea otters
places them at risk, the FWS and the Southern Sea Otter Recovery Team
concluded that moving otters and impeding natural range expansion
southward is likely to jeopardize the species’ continued existence.
The southern sea otter translocation program has failed to meet its
objective of establishing a viable, independent colony of sea otters to
serve as a safeguard for the population, as a whole, in the event of a
natural or human-caused event. The recovery and management goals for
southern sea otters cannot be met by continuing the program. Given that
in the last ten years, the southern sea otter population has exhibited
periods of growth and decline, and is still listed as threatened under
the ESA, we are especially pleased to see the FWS recommendation to
both protect and allow the sea otters currently in the translocation
and management zones to remain. Implementation of the preferred
alternative in the DSEIS will ensure a sustainable sea otter population
and will allow sea otters to expand their range. We strongly urge you
to finalize the SEIS and to implement the preferred alternative
Sincerely,
Peter Adam
Graduate Student
University of California, Los Angeles
Christine Alfano
Graduate Student
University of Minnesota
Marci Allen
Instructor
Birch Aquarium
Homero Aridjiis
President
Grupo de los Cien Internacional/Mexico
Stefan Austermühle
Executive Director
Asociacion Mundo Azul/Lima, Peru
Sarah Barry, MSc
Marine Team
Melissa Batka
Marine Mammal Education and Research
Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
Ilana Bismuth, MSc
President
Faune § Etude/France
Rachel Cartwright
Professor
California State University, Channel Islands
Don Croll, PhD
Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of California, Santa Cruz/Center for Ocean Health
Daphna Feingold
Committee Member, Israeli Marine Mammal Research & Assistance Center
Dept. of Marine Civilizations, University of Haifa, Israel
Amanda Harris
Marine Mammal Education and Research
Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
Jim Harvey, PhD
Professor
Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
Kara Johnson
Graduate Student
College of the Atlantic
Caroline Karp
Chair, National Committee on Marine Wildlife and Habitat
Sierra Club
Carol Keiper
Marine Biologist
Dan H Kerem, PhD
President
Israel Marine Mammal Research & Assistance
Center/
The Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies/The University of Haifa
Tom Kieckhefer
Research Associate
Pacific Cetacean Group
Marcy Kober
Education Curator
The Whale Museum/Friday Harbor, WA
Shawn Larson, PhD
Curator of Animal Health and Research
Seattle Aquarium
Nina Mak
Graduate Student
Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy
Karen Martin, PhD
Professor, Frank R. Seaver Chair of Biology
Pepperdine University/Malibu, CA
Katherine Maze-Foley
Fisheries Biologist III
IAP Worldwide Services/NOAA Fisheries, Pascagoula Laboratory, MS
Katherine McHugh
Graduate Student
University of California, Davis
Thomas Norris
Senior Scientist / Marine Vertebrate Biologist
Science Applications International Corp.
John Ogden, PhD
Professor of Biology
University of South Florida
Diana Reiss
Senior Research Scientist
New York Aquarium of the Wildlife Conservation Society and Columbia
University
Alicia Retes
Museum “Whaler”/Whale Watching
San Diego Natural History Museum
Cynthia Reyes
Stranding Coordinator
California Wildlife Center
Wendy Ritger
Environmental Scientist
TEC, Inc.
Naomi Rose
Marine Mammal Scientist
The Humane Society of the United States
William W. Rossiter
President
Cetacean Society International
John Sorenson
President
Ocean Network Communications
Ryan Uulff
Graduate Student
Scripps Institute of Oceanography
Marie-Francoise Van Bressem, DVM, PhD
Head, Cetacean Conservation Medicine Group
Cetacean Conservation Medicine Group (CMED), CEPEC/Germany
Scott Veirs, PhD
President
Beam Reach Marine Science and Sustainability School
Frank Veit, PhD
Director
International Laboratory for Dolphin Behaviour Research/Israel
Jo Wharam
Project Officer
Durlston Marine Project/UK
Robert Wilson
The Marine Mammal Center
George M. Woodwell, PhD
Director Emeritus
The Woods Hole Research Center
Erika Zollett
Marine Mammal Scientist
Ocean Process and Analysis Laboratory/Institute for the Study of Earth,
Oceans and Space/University of New Hampshire
--
Jim Curland, Marine Program Associate
Defenders of Wildlife
P.O. Box 959
Moss Landing, CA. 95039
831-726-9010 (phone)
831-726-9020 (fax)
jcurland@defenders.org
Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native wild
animals and plants in their natural communities. We focus our
programs on what scientists consider two of the most serious
environmental threats to the planet: the accelerating rate of
extinction of species and the associated loss of biological diversity,
and habitat alteration and destruction. Long known for our
leadership on endangered species issues, Defenders of Wildlife also
advocates new approaches to wildlife conservation that will help
keep species from becoming endangered. Our programs encourage
protection of entire ecosystems and interconnected habitats while
protecting predators that serve as indicator species for ecosystem
health.
http://www.defenders.org
http://www.kidsplanet.org
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/new/seaotters.html
(Defenders' Main Sea Otter Page)
http://www.kidsplanet.org/espanol/espint.html
(Defenders' Sea Otter Teaching Unit)
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/new/marine.html
(Defenders' Marine Program Page)
http://www.defenders.org/california/marine.html
(Defenders' California Marine Program Page)