A bill by Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, that would place a $100 bounty on sea otters harvested legally in Alaska attracted vocal support in a Senate Resources Committee hearing Wednesday, despite Stedman’s admission that the bill as drafted appears to be unenforceable under federal law.
Stedman introduced Senate Bill 60 last month, calling it an effort to slow the booming population growth among sea otters in Southeast Alaska.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game blames the rise in sea otters, which were reintroduced to Southeast Alaska in the 1960s after being hunted to near-extinction during the height of the fur trade, for the decline of crab, shellfish and marine invertebrate fisheries in the region.
“They literally eat everything, and the gravelly bottom looks like it has been bombed out,” said Stedman, who brought a sea otter pelt he said was loaned from a fellow legislator to the hearing and spread it out across the table in front of him while he spoke.
Sea otters are voracious feeders. ADF&G Deputy Commissioner Craig Fleener said they often consume a quarter of their body weight every day, and their main diet is crustaceans, shellfish, and marine invertebrates like sea cucumbers and sea urchins.
Sea otters are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which became federal law just a few years after the translocation of sea otters back to Southeast’s coastal waters. The act gives regulatory authority over marine mammals to the federal government and prohibits them from being intentionally killed, although an amendment to the law in the 1990s gives Alaska Natives the right to hunt sea otters for “subsistence” purposes.
Less than 50 years after the animals were reintroduced in Southeast Alaska, there are now more than 25,000 sea otters estimated to live in the region. Last year, 842 sea otters were legally harvested.
Stedman suggested he wants to increase that latter number to keep the former number from getting too much larger.
“I think that we could accomplish the goal of allowing the sea otters to spread through Southeast at a lower number and not devastate our beaches and … our clam beds and our crabs,” Stedman said.
Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage, asked whether Stedman has received a legal opinion and if he could share it with the committee.
“It conflicts with federal law,” Stedman admitted.
But Stedman suggested that there may be ways to tweak his bill.
“If this mechanism is not palatable with the attorneys … we could always move the funds to the tannery, or what have you, to help encourage the same solution,” said Stedman.
Fleener said the ADF&G has been trying to find a solution to the sea otter explosion, but so far, it has been unsuccessful in getting around the MMPA. He said the department “supports the concept of bounties” despite the “legal issues.”
“We applaud Sen. Stedman’s efforts,” Fleener told the committee. “They’re really in line with what the department has been trying to accomplish for several years now.”
Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River, joked, “There’s some sentiment in this building to put the bounty on the feds.”
Several members of the public, most of them involved in the dive fishing industry, testified by telephone in favor of S.B. 60. Among them was Craig Mayor Dennis Watson.
“The only way this issue can be reined in is by reducing the sea otter population, and it needs to happen quickly,” said Watson. “It certainly doesn’t hurt to have an incentive, such as a bounty, to speed this process up.”
Kupreanof resident Joseph Sebastian was the only person to testify Wednesday in opposition to S.B. 60. He called the bill “unprofessional, unscientific, racist and culturally destructive” and warned it would “start a new sea otter gold rush,” which he compared to Russian imperialism in Southeast Alaska during the fur trade.
“S.B. 60 is a knee-jerk attempt to solve a complex problem and makes a scapegoat out of a nonoffensive sea mammal,” Sebastian said.
Several people came to the committee hearing hoping to testify in person on the bill, including Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl and Alaska Wildlife Alliance President Tina Brown.
However, Senate Resources Committee Chairwoman Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, closed public testimony as the hearing neared the end of its scheduled time. She said people will have an opportunity to testify on the bill Friday, as it was held in committee with no action taken Wednesday.
Brown said at an Alaska Wildlife Event at the University of Alaska Southeast Wednesday night that she encourages people to testify on Friday.
“I really, really urge you to send in a comment or testify early about this,” said Brown, who offered to provide “talking points” to those who wish to testify. “Yes, it’s not legal for the state to implement that law if it passes. It’s not legal. But if you had been in that room today, you would have wanted to send in comment or say something, because you would not have realized that it would be illegal for them to implement such a law. And it’s really beneficial when all user groups of the public participate in the process, not just one segment, which is mainly what’s happening right now.”
• Contact reporter Mark D. Miller at 586-1821 or at mark.d.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (53)
Add commentPolitical theater by morons
It's unscientific.
It violates Federal law.
It will trash our visitor industry, even though it has no hope of being enacted.
Pay attention, children. They're giving away billion$ of our tax dollars, and you're getting distracted by a sideshow that in the end will be meaningless.
Keep your eye on the ball.
Sea Otters and Seal Lions gone wild.
The estimate for sea otters in the Yakutat is about 1500. Each sea otter can eat roughly 25 lbs of shell fish per day. That calculates to roughly 1500 X 25lbs = 37500 lbs of shell fish per day! There are roughly 2000 seal lions in the Yakutat area, that congregate around the Dry Bay river mouth to feed on hooligans in early spring,and return again for the summer king salmon spawn. The average seal lion weight is 580 lbs,and they eat roughly 5% to 8% of their body weight daily.That calculates out to 26 lbs to 46 lbs of fish eaten per day by each seal lion. This means 2000 seal lions are consuming roughly 58000 to 92000 lbs of fish per day. A returning Dry Bay king on average is roughly 30 lbs. This means 58000/30 and 92000/30....1933 to 3066 kings are consumed daily by the out of control/undermanaged seal lions. But hey!...The Fish & Game is trying to start a new department to control invasive plants. What a bunch of useless empire building twits!!
Let ther feds enforce their
Let ther feds enforce their law.
Don't assume....
If the law passes it's "illegal". Does the Federal government have the Constitutional authority to require states to do nothing and allow a blight to destroy it's forests or a plague to wipe out it's residents? The courts will decide. I'm glad there are individauls like the Senator who are willing to stand up for hard working Alaskans!
lattie
Political post by a moron!
Alaska's Constitution Article VIII : Natural Resources
Governor Parnell,and Fish & Game Commissoner Cora Campbell,apparently believe that Alaska's Constitution Article VIII only applies to Oil and Gas issues. I mention this, because it appears that the State of Alaska is turning a blind eye to the destruction being brought upon Southeast Alaska's shell and salmon fishery by sea otters and seal lions unmanaged/out of control. The State of Alaska is in a better position to get the Federal Government's attention,than individuals. 1500 Sea Otter in the Yakutat area,eating roughly 37000 lbs of shell fish per day,and 2000 Seal Lions eating roughly 3000 Dry Bay king salmon per day (during spawning season,then they return to the shore lines for winter kings) is not managing the wildlife. One day, the Federal Government will be wondering where all of the Southeast Alaska kings have gone....as they are now wondering where all of the Interior Alaska river king salmon have gone.
State can still reward the shooters!
There is no Federal Law that prohibits the State of Alaska from giving money to its citizens. In this case, if a person legally harvests a sea otter, (they have complied with the MMPA, and all federal regulations) why shouldn't Alaska reward that behavior? The lawyers are wrong, pass the bill and lets manage sea otters like we do dog salmon, breed um and kill for cash!
Think of Southeast Alaska as one big Sea Otter ranch!
the sea otter bill
is just the horn on the republican clown-car, and they're honking it as loud as they can to rally the base, and get us all arguing about nothing while they sell our state's resources to the lowest bidder in return for fat retirements.
Way to use a 90-day session!
I like the idea of
I like the idea of subsidizing the tannery better. It costs roughly $140 to tan a sea otter hide, so I've been told. If there is a bounty, lots of (native) folks will be out there shooting otters, but will find themselves in trouble when they cannot afford the tanning fees and are unable to produce a significantly altered item...Or allow the hides to be donated to a cultural education program to be used to teach others how to sew hides etc. Ultimately culling the sea otter herd will be beneficial for all, including the otter and the ecosystem. They will still expand, but at a slower, more controlled rate.
mmpa
The state should go ahead and pass SB 60 and let the feds try to enforce the MMPA. The Federal government is 17 trillion dollars in debt, so there won't be any feds left in a few years. The over population of Sea Lions and Otters is obvious to anyone that fishes. Sea Lions now swim up to your boat looking for a hand out because tourists feed them. If fewer marine mammals means fewer tourists then it's a win-win.
How dare they eat Our Resources
To think of all the whale eating Japanese without a sea cucumber appetizer breaks my heart. The gaul; to let nature find it's own balance and re-establish equilibreum in Southeast Alaska. Everyone knows that
all of the Earths resources belong to Humans to exploit for profit. The sooner we kill everything , the sooner we can put these kind of environmental problems behind us. Kill 'em all, I can hear Japanese stomachs growing from here.
Greed
A Native sells a few hides and goes to jail, a politician smells profit? Thats ok! pass a bill,give it to non-natives $100 a pelt! The damned things are killing OUR resources...
stedman got us talking
senator stedman got those interested talking, now we gotta do something, using colorful words isnt going to get things done, comparing is easy way out. actions will get resolve in this matter.
Let the big talkers
come out from behind the postings and be the ones to challenge the feds. It so easy to be making postings compared to actually being the one who might actually be in court defending your taking a sea otter. Maybe your bravado will be the basis from which all those previously convicted have their conviction reversed.
Stedman is playing politics as he has on so many other occasions when he runs around on a publicity stunt in hopes of keeping his office . Do you believe he would actually be willing to be the accused in a trail for having killed a sea otter? No he'll let someone else take the risk and hide behind his talking points.
Stedman should be introducing something that would lead to changing the federal laws/regulations. Perhpas a court challenge based on the existing laws could be the foundation for having SCOTUS eventually decide the matter. A person does not have to violate a law to question is legality.
There appears to be issues regarding a number of those protected species such as sea otters, seals and sea-lions. Running around the Capitol building looking like the Alaskan Braveheart proclaiming freedom from federal regulation is not solving the problem.
Meanwhile maybe a Federal Marshall will show up to question Stedman's ownership of his prized pelt.
"Recent research shows that
"Recent research shows that sea otters are in fact an important part of California’s economy. A study at Colorado State University estimated that as sea otters expand their range southward, they’ll bring $100 million to the California economy. But how? Increased revenue from tourism and recreation, for one. Protecting otters indirectly protects the places we humans enjoy... These protections translate into millions more tourism dollars from visitors who might be as interested in seeing otters as in boating or recreational fishing. . Another study values each individual otter at a half a million dollars to the state’s economy.
More economic benefits come in the form of what scientists call “ecosystem services.” In other words, otters are vital to maintaining healthy kelp forests. As a keystone species, otters are just as valuable below the surface of the ocean. Kelp harvesting in California is worth as much as $40 million, but without otters to keep their numbers down, sea urchins mow down vast swaths of kelp forest. These “urchin barrens” also can’t support the myriad animals and plants including seals, fish, and even shellfish that thrive in the protective kelp forest environment. Kelp forests help protect shorelines from storm surge and also absorb massive amounts of carbon dioxide acting as a powerful carbon sink. So, as strange as it might sound, a healthy otter population might be just the trick to helping nearshore ecosystems and their fish and shellfish bounce back"
http://seaotters.com/2012/03/24/resource-benefits-and-conflicts-of-shari...
Move public money to the
Move public money to the tannery industry to pay for a blood bath?
2014 & 2016
can't get here soon enough!
Knock out these disgusting republicans
passing unconstitutional laws
This current crop of GOP "leaders" seems intent on passing every unconstitutional state law they can dream up. We don't give a darn how they do it Outside, or what the constitution says. We believe in State's rights; we hate the Federal government. Oh, and by the way, send more money, Feds!
Certainly one of the worst
Certainly one of the worst collections of bills I have ever seen in the history of Alaska.
The arrogance, ignorance, the racist comments by these Reps., their stomping on the democratic & public process.... Lets get it all in the books, so future generations know who, what, where and why.
Lat58: We are not all low-information voters. There are many
plates spinning in this session and I for one am quite capable of multi-tasking.
While we are at it
we might as well blame the failed 2012 salmon fisheries on the otters too. Afterall, over-fishing by humans and environmental issues have nothing to do with any of it.
I cant wait for the lawsuit challenges to all of these illegal bills to begin, I will gladly contribute money.
Is there a mechanism in place which concerned citizens
may utilize to contribute monies to the federal government's longstanding litigations concerning state sovereignty issues?
Indeed there is. Make your check payable to the IRS.
@ken
What you might call state sovereignty, another might call secessionism. The state doesnt speak for all of us and I, for one, would be glad that the Feds might possibly intervene. But you can bet, even if they dont, other private groups will. AK's legislature is riding the crazy train with the number of illegal bills they have produced this year. They dont speak for all of us and if filing a lawsuit is the only way for the other side to have their voices heard, I say bring it on.
Absolutely cat and mouse, and
Absolutely cat and mouse, and after 100 years of otters scouring the seabed, eating everything in their path, then starving en mass, they will balance out and be like California. In the mean time, we should be shooting a few here and there to try and keep the disaster somewhat manageable...
I think the idea is that
there already is a healthy otter population in southeast, but now they're becoming over populated and are encroaching on the shellfish population.
As someone who hunts deer, goat, moose, waterfowl, etc. I guess I just don't see the big deal about shooting some otters as long as it's regulated and monitored.
Also, I don't think Alaska has a kelp harvesting industry, nor are people climbing over each other to vacation here to look at the sea otters.
kiki: The "state" never does speak for all its citizens anymore
than Washington D.C., and the feds are more than tickled to have third party interest groups fight their battles for them at the 9th circuit.
It is called distraction. Have the citizens fight amongst themselves.
While I don't believe that
While I don't believe that there should be a bounty, I feel that hunting sea otters should be open to more people. If sea otter stocks are as healthy as they seem and the present harvesters are not putting much of a dent in the population, why not open it to more people and continue to manage the resource closely?
@Ken
No, the distraction is a bunch of State legislators shoving through crazy bills that are illegal, that will get challenged in court and will waste the State's money fighting them and are wasting our State's money and time by even passing them in the first place. In case you hadnt noticed alot of people disagree with the bills being passed in Alaska, although perhaps not you. If what you call citizens fighting amongst themselves is actually people challenging these crazy bills, then so be it.
What an id_iot. Why waste
What an id_iot. Why waste time with bills that are not legal nor enforceable? You really have that much time on your hands? Maybe it is time for someone with a little focus.
Every time man tries to manage nature they really screw it up. The otters were here long before man, man came along and hunted them to near extinction. Now they are coming back and man does not like the competition. The crabs were likely over populated due to a lack of otters so man was enjoying an artificual over abundence.
Leave the otters alone to do what otters do. We over hunt the moose, halibut, bears and every other thing. We push them to the point where we have to "eliminate" or reduce natual preditors, what a bunch of ignorent goofs.
great tourist attraction
First, they can take a small boat tour and follow behind the big cruise ships to watch them dump their excrement into our "pristine" waters. Then later, they can munch on some delicious salmon for lunch, that is if there is any because the salmon fishery is a bust. If there is salmon, just make sure you hide the label that says Cwap In A Can. If there isnt any, hide the package that says "farmed". Then after lunch, they can take a nice leisurely kayak trip and witness sea otters being slaughtered. Alaska tourism at its best, courtesy of Gov Parnell and the looney legislators in our State.
Destruction of Alaska's Fisheries
The destruction of southeast Alaska's fisheries by the out of control/unmanaged sea otters,and seal lions is the fault of Governor Parnell,and Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell. The court decision titled "1990- Federal Takeover of Management of Federal Lands"....states the following..."The Federal Government takes over management of hunting and some fishing on federal lands. The State retains management of fish and game on state and private lands and of fisheries in navigable waters and in intertidal areas". This to me, means the State of Alaska is reponsiable for protecting the destruction of Alaska's fisheries from all challengers....and if the Federal Government is one of the challengers (the federal government's sea otters,and seal lions), then the State of Alaska should fight to take over the management/control of Alaska's sea otters, and seal lions.