SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – The federal government is thinking about reintroducing sea otters in Northern California to help fight climate change.
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There was an abundance of sea otters in the Bay Area until they were hunted to near extinction more than 100 years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported. Now they're about 3,000 sea otters living on the California Coast from Santa Barbra to Half Moon Bay.
The idea of reintroducing sea otters in Northern California is to help fight climate change, according to KPIX. Kelp forests help capture carbon but sea urchins can decimate kelp forests. The otters eat sea urchins and will help balance the kelp forest.
The plan would move otter pups from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and drop them off in different areas of San Francisco Bay.
However, local fishermen are worried that the sea otters will eat too many Dungeness crabs and sea urchins, the news station said.
"We have sustainable fisheries that are local producing food for the people of California, and this increase in the number of sea otters is gonna have an impact on that," Dave Rudie, chair of the California Sea Urchin Commission told KPIX.
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