Since they were re-introduced to the B.C. coast in the early 1970s, sea otter numbers have grown more than a hundredfold – an unchecked population explosion that is taking food away from people in coastal communities, say Nuu-chah-nulth leaders.
Sea otters – or kwakwat in Nuu-chah-nulth – are extremely capable hunters. They can dive to depths of 30 metres, using rocks as tools to crack open various kinds of shellfish. Males can grow up to 45 kilograms and eat as much as a quarter of their weight in a single day.
“They’re constant eating machines,” said Sean MacConnachie, the Nanaimo-based section head for DFO’s Aquatic Ecosystems and Marine Science department.
On June 11 MacConnachie presented the species’ population trends to the Nuu-chah-nulth Council of Ha’wiih Forum on Fisheries, which was hosted by the Nuchatlaht in Campbell River. Once found coastwide from California to Alaska, sea otters were traditionally hunted by coastal First Nations. Their pelts, which have the densest fur of any marine mammal, were used for clothing. After Captain Cook first landed in Yuquot in 1778, the fur trade picked up on the value of otter pelts, selling them to markets in Europe and Russia.
International demand was high, and by the 1850s sea otters were gone from many areas they occupied on the B.C. coast. By 1931 they were extinct in the province.
Populations survived in Alaska, which led to 89 being relocated to B.C. waters from 1969-72. Sent to Checlesat Bay in the territory of the Ka:'yu:'k't'h'/Che:k'tles7et'h' First Nations, only one third of these kwakwat survived, but within a few years a surge in population growth was evident.
DFO started doing population surveys in 1977, when 70 sea otters were counted on the west coast of Vancouver Island. By the time the last count was conducted in 2017, staff with the federal department would tally 8,110 otters, which had spread north to the central B.C. coast and to the southern extent of Clayoquot Sound. With another survey coming this year, it appears the animals have further spread in the last eight years.
“We know that they’re down in Barkley Sound, they’ve wrapped around into Sooke,” said MacConnachie. “Now I understand that they’re down in Neah Bay and also in Haida Gwaii.”
The 2017 survey shows a population that is 115 times greater than the 70 who were spotted 40 years earlier.
"To maintain that level of growth is almost biologically impossible,” said MacConnachie during the fisheries meeting. “The reason why they did, I think, is because the buffet was set. It’s no surprise; they eat voraciously, and they eat just about everything and anything, and there a whole ecosystem out there for them to expand to. Very little predation and nothing but groceries.”
Mowachaht/Muchalaht Tyee Ha’wilth Mike Maquinna recently noticed the prevalence of sea otters on the coast when he travelled from Gold River to Zeballos.
“I went there by water and witnessed a whole inlet of sea otters,” he said. “It’s amazing, they look organized.”
“It’s getting quite concerning and has been for a while,” continued the chief. “These mammals are eating a lot. They are taking away from members of my community that would normally go out and have some of these clams and oysters and crabs.”
“Our diet has been impacted by sea otters,” noted Ahousaht representative Kiista, Keith Atleo, during the fisheries meeting. “It’s taking away a lot of our culture with our young people. A lot of our young people don’t know the taste of sea urchins. They don’t know some of the resources our people used to use for health.”
The population explosion of kwakwat has been a topic among Nuu-chah-nulth leaders for several years, bringing references to the old practice of tying slain otters to float near certain shellfish beds as a deterrent for others who might feast on the resource. But this is illegal under Canadian law, and the animal has been protected by an international treaty since 1911.
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada currently gives sea otters a “special concern” designation, citing that the species has “characteristics that make it particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events.”
“The species occupies 33-50 per cent of its historical range in British Columbia but is not yet clearly secure in Canada,” states the most recent COSEWIC assessment from 2022.
Meanwhile, the animal is a favourite for those visiting the Vancouver Aquarium, which houses rescued sea otters.
“Sea urchins are a favourite snack for otters, but without enough otters around, the urchin population can explode and devastate the kelp forests,” states the aquarium’s website in its section on sea otters. “Thankfully, since the reintroduction of these lovable animals to B.C.'s outer coast, urchin populations have balanced out, allowing the kelp forests to make a triumphant comeback.”
“There’s a media sensation of wanting them around because they’re so cuddly and furry,” commented Maquinna.
“To those animal activist groups, to those people who support sea otters being on the endangered species list, you’re hurting our children,” stressed Kiista. “It’s a part of our healthy diet that its affecting.”
As his staff prepare for another sea otter survey, MacConnachie reflected on a possible attitude shift among biologists since marine mammal populations were at a low in the early 1970s.
“In that time, virtually everyone that works for me, and everyone that I work with on the marine mammal management side, is solely focussed on conservation,” he said. “We are moving from a conservation-based ethic and ethos and focus, to this reality that there are species of marine mammals that are big enough to have a sustainable harvest.”
