SFR Bremerton Otter Assault! (from Seattle Times)

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Jim in Anacortes said:
G Smolt I value your input, but I stand by my words. Monterey bay is a perfect example of the destruction that these animals are capable of.. Fisheries in Alaska are now seeing widespread destruction. Even the Native Americans, centuries ago, saw the necessity to limit their numbers. They are cute, they do bring in tourist, but for every other living thing on the reef they are simply brutally destructive. That is the truth...Millions of dollars have been spent to keep that truth hidden...I give it to all readers free of charge. Underwater footage of a reef teaming with life, compared to just months after Otters were introduced at that reef showing nothing but death and barren reef...... This I have personally witnessed. This is why there are no Otters (yet) in Southern California, this is why the truth is being hidden with immense effort.
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So, destructive to “man’s” eco-system vs “nature’s”???
Got it.
Yet, man is the alpha-destructor and disrupter of the environment.
😉
 
Pink Nighty said:
How does one get in on Big Otter? I'm sick of being a sucker, I wanna be a suckler on that sweet otter teet!
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Rumor has it that it's headquartered at a super secret location in one of the Hasbro Stuffed Toy divisions. The CEO is said to go by the cryptic code name 'Emmet'.

But somebody much higher up is really pulling the strings....
 
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My youngest knows otters are my favorite animal, shares my love of rivers and (for now) fishing, is simultaneously very sensitive/affectionate whilst being a huge tomboy, and is somehow an even bigger fan of otters after learning that they are aggressive predators that will attack anyone/anything that encroachrs on their food/nest/territory.

Having said that - I'm sure this was an incredibly frightening and distressing episode for all if the humans involved, am very sad this happened - and very, very glad that things didn't turn out worse for the child.
 
A google search " West Coast Seafood Groups Concerned about Potential Reintroduction of Sea Otters" will lead you to a very informative, short article. This is one (very rare) article written to explain how Sea Otters can be so destructive. Some people might say "Well those are just the greedy fisherman and seafood dealers that think it will hurt their business". That would be a correct statement, however, these people are indeed the best stewards of the reefs, because they need it to be healthy and abundant for their personal livelihoods. They also are the people that actually witness the destruction first hand. Unfortunately they have been trying to combat efforts to expand Sea Otters zones, for decades (with some success) but they are fighting a huge political money making giant, that is more concerned with donations, funding and hiding the truth, than they are about what is best for the ecosystem. This can be very frustrating for those honest fisherman, just trying to have their voices heard.
 
If Sea Otters were ever reintroduced ( in significant numbers) to the San Juan Islands it would undoubtedly destroy the Crab fishery along with several other fisheries. Remember, we humans have size limits, catch limits, seasons and heavy fines for not following the regulations, that have been put forth to keep these fisheries "sustainable". Otters have none of those things....Just some food for thought.
 
I appreciate your perspective and willingness to share it here, Jim.

Always good to see/read/hear things from folks with direct personal experience that challenges your own outlook.
 
Jim in Anacortes said:
A google search " West Coast Seafood Groups Concerned about Potential Reintroduction of Sea Otters" will lead you to a very informative, short article. This is one (very rare) article written to explain how Sea Otters can be so destructive. Some people might say "Well those are just the greedy fisherman and seafood dealers that think it will hurt their business". That would be a correct statement, however, these people are indeed the best stewards of the reefs, because they need it to be healthy and abundant for their personal livelihoods. They also are the people that actually witness the destruction first hand. Unfortunately they have been trying to combat efforts to expand Sea Otters zones, for decades (with some success) but they are fighting a huge political money making giant, that is more concerned with donations, funding and hiding the truth, than they are about what is best for the ecosystem. This can be very frustrating for those honest fisherman, just trying to have their voices heard.
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Hey Jim, sorry to jump on you about this but what you're writing does not make biological sense. I'm sure otters have an impact on abalone and other sea life similar to any other predator/prey relationship but they are far from culpable at causing some of the widespread impacts you are attributing to them.

Just for clarities sake from what I've read on the interwebs the commercial black abalone fishery ended in 1993 and commercial fisheries for green, pink and white abalone ended in 96. At that point there were around 1,800-2,400 otters. Meanwhile between ~1952-~1978 commercial landings of abalone were about 4,500,000 pounds per year before a rapid decline. I can't come across sea otter population estimates from that period but I'd guess they were below 1,000. Those damn otters drove the abalone population decline!sea-otter-abundance-trends.pngabalone.jpg

The abalone paper can be found here and is an interesting read: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=34209&inline
 


Otter Wars...
 
I encourage people to research this issue and welcome any input. I know that my input often ruffles some feathers, but those of us that lived in California and that has had ties to any fishery, learned some hard lessons when it comes to Sea Otters, and entities such as the Sierra Club, Friends of the Sea Otter various Universities and Marine biologist seeking more funding. Millions of dollars every year (for decades) have been spent trying to expand the Otter population and their scope. A very small group of people that know of the (historic) destruction that they always bring ( Pismo Beach for example) are simply trying desperately to sound the alarm, before a lobbyist in Washington D.C. allows special interests to reintroduce Otters into waters where they will do massive harm. The day they put Sea Otters in the San Juan Islands will be a very sad day.
 
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It is extremely easy to find articles that tout the benefit of having Sea Otters in kelp beds. But you will never see a before and after video of that happening. That is because, under the surface, what you would see is nothing but empty shells and a complete lack of most any living creature. We know this because we have before and after video. Those videos are extremely hard to find on the internet..... Let's give every living thing on a reef, anywhere on the west coast, a vote.... Should we reintroduce Sea Otters? Yes or no? virtually all of them except Sea Otters would adamantly vote "HELL NO".
 
Jim in Anacortes said:
A google search " West Coast Seafood Groups Concerned about Potential Reintroduction of Sea Otters" will lead you to a very informative, short article. This is one (very rare) article written to explain how Sea Otters can be so destructive. Some people might say "Well those are just the greedy fisherman and seafood dealers that think it will hurt their business". That would be a correct statement, however, these people are indeed the best stewards of the reefs, because they need it to be healthy and abundant for their personal livelihoods. They also are the people that actually witness the destruction first hand. Unfortunately they have been trying to combat efforts to expand Sea Otters zones, for decades (with some success) but they are fighting a huge political money making giant, that is more concerned with donations, funding and hiding the truth, than they are about what is best for the ecosystem. This can be very frustrating for those honest fisherman, just trying to have their voices heard.
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Why continue down the man-made path of perception? Your perception is based on a man-made opinion. Nature Rules… not man. 🤦🏼‍♂️
 
My perception is that Mankind has completely changed the natural balance of nature. Especially when considering the west coast of North America. Unfortunately ( in the short term) Mankind actually does have control of nature and has had that control for some time now. The fur trade comes to mind. I am only interested in keeping what balance we have left to be used intelligently with Mother Nature's best interest foremost at hand. I can assure you that there are many, many highly paid "professionals" that use their clout to distort facts, hide the truth, get kickbacks and acquire huge funding grants. These people do not give a damn about our kelp beds, or the Sea Otters ( for that matter) it's all about the Benjamin's ..But hey, it's easy to discredit the fisherman (with the most to lose).........if you have hundreds of millions of dollars to drown out their voices.
 
Imagine that you are a marine biologist writing up a grant proposal to study how Sea Otters can benefit the kelp beds. Now imagine yourself as a marine biologist that wants to document the destruction that Sea Otters bring to a kelp bed. Guess which one gets the funding. That, in a nutshell, is why most Americans have the perception that these creatures are in any way desirable. Other than the tourist industry and the biologist looking for grant money they are massively destructive.
 
Jim in Anacortes said:
Imagine that you are a marine biologist writing up a grant proposal to study how Sea Otters can benefit the kelp beds. Now imagine yourself as a marine biologist that wants to document the destruction that Sea Otters bring to a kelp bed. Guess which one gets the funding.
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The one who turns in a complete proposal on time with a justified budget and defensible study plan gets the funding.
Do you think otters command such power just because they are cute, or some other reason? I just don’t get it, it doesn’t make sense. Research grants don’t universally hinge on predetermined outcomes that portray cute animals in a positive light. It’s just not how it works. Now that being said, I’ve never applied for otter research funding.
 
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