Kelp, Urchins, and Otters in the California Coastal Region

Abstract

For hundreds of years, the various organisms that dwell in the giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) forests along the Californian and Alaskan coasts have existed in dynamic equilibrium. Beginning in the mid-1700s, this equilibrium was disturbed when Russian fur traders began to catch sea otters (En-hydra lutris) for their valuable pelts. In the 1800s, English and American fur traders joined the Russians, at which time large-scale otter exploitation began to take place. By the turn of the century, Overexploitation of otters nearly caused the species’ extinction. In the early 1900s, the total otter population along the North American Pacific Coast was estimated to have dropped from the hundreds of thousands to approximately 1000 individuals. The International Fur Seal Treaty of 1911 prevented further harvesting. Since then, both the treaty and government transplantation programs have enabled the sea otter population to rebound and move back into its historical range (Seaworld 1996).