Who wodda thought !!! Cute furry things can be harvested! Seals Next ??

Link not working-- so C&P
US Fish and Wildlife Service records show that for all of 2012, Alaska native hunters in coastal communities across the state reported a total harvest of 1281 sea otters. 952 of those were from Southeast including Yakutat. So far, this year’s harvest is at least 1380 statewide. That includes 1008 from Southeast. The agency expects the number to grow by the end of the year, since a lot of the harvest takes place in the fall.



“This year is one of the biggest years on record, we’ll actually it’s the biggest year of harvest,” says Biologist Brad Benter runs the sea otter US Fish and Wildlife Service’s marking and tagging program for Sea Otters in Alaska, “Every community in Alaska where Alaska natives live and sea otters exist, we have a representative tagger or several and even in some villages where there are no sea otters we have taggers. So, when somebody harvests a sea otter, they will go to a tagger in the nearest community and they will get their animal, we call it tagged, or sealed and scientific harvest information is also collected for each animal on location, sex, age, other animals present. We get a tooth to try to get an age of the animal and when I say age, the hunter just says if he thinks it’s a pup or a sub-adult, adult.”

Fish and Wildlife’s harvest numbers do not reflect unreported or illegal kills by non-natives. Under the marine mammal protection act, sea otters may only be hunted by coastal Alaska Natives. There is no set season, bag limit, or permit needed but hunters are required to report their kills.

There have been ups and down depending on the community but the overall, the agency’s numbers show the
harvest has been on the increase in at least the past half-decade.

US Fish and Wildlife Biologist Verena Gill thinks thinks there are various factors that have contributed to that, “You know the most obvious one as a biologist is that the (otter) population is increasing in Southeast Alaska and in Southcentral Alaska.”

For instance, Between 2002 and 2011, the number of southeast otters increased from about 11 thousand to around 26 thousand animals. That’s according to the agency’s latest population assessment, which is expected to be finalized soon.

According to Gill, the data provided by hunters is valuable for otter research and management:

“I’m very, very appreciative to
 
someone come to grappler , we gots too many!!
 
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