USFWS
Marine Mammals Management
Alaska Region

 

Sea Otter

Marine Mammals Management biologists work to keep the Alaska sea otter population within its optimum sustainable range, to maintain healthy habitats for sea otters, and to ensure there will be opportunities for a variety of human uses, including subsistence hunting and wildlife viewing. Our Conservation Plan provides management and research direction for our biologists.

  • Skiff surveys. John Piatt/USGS.We track the sea otter population size and health through aerial and boat-based surveys. See our Reports page for information on population studies.
  • Following Section 117 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, we produce periodic Stock Assessment Reports for all marine mammals, including sea otters; and we administer the Marking, Tagging and Reporting Program to tag legally harvested sea otters.
  • We administer cooperative agreements with The Alaska Sea Otter and Steller Sea Lion Commission under Section 119 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. These agreements fund projects supporting sea otter conservation and co-management of subsistence uses.
  • We collaborate with research organizations. For example, we work with the Alaska SeaLife Center to conduct research on the declining sea otter population in southwest Alaska.
  • Since sea otters range across the Pacific Rim, using waters of Japan and Russia as well as the U.S., we work closely with these countries through the U.S.-Russia Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Protection of the Environment and Natural Resources, and through staff representation in the IUCN-the World Conservation Union.

    Student Internships are available through the University of Alaska, Anchorage.

    Sea Otter Awareness Week is September 21 - September 28, 2007. Learn more about our smallest marine mammal in Alaska, the Northern Sea Otter. During this week-long event we highlight the role that sea otters play in the near-shore marine ecosystem, sea otter life history, and ways that people can share the near-shore system with sea otters.

Last updated: September 10, 2008