When was otter hunting banned

Later on guns were used to hunt Otters but many still preferred trapping. It was the best way to preserve the pelts from these animals. However, with the use of guns more Otters could be killed in less time. They could also be killed in the water instead of just on land. The desire of people all over the world to have items made from Otter significantly increased the hunting efforts for them.

Large hunting efforts were emerging that involved a large ship in the water. Then groups of hunters were sent out in canoes to find and kill Otters. When they had their canoe full they would return to the large ship to unload them.

This would go on for days until the leader of the expedition felt that they had enough cargo to return home. There has long been a history of Otter pelts being displayed around the world. In China it was standard for the royalty to wear robes made from them. Those that were financially high in status also wore them. In many locations including the United States capes, belts, and sashes made from the fur of Otters have been very popular. Most of the hunting is being done out of Sitka, Hoonah and Ketchikan.

No state or federal agency can regulate the Native hunts unless the statewide population of sea otters is threatened. The Fish and Wildlife Service tags and keeps data on harvested otters. It has taken no position on whether the hunts need to be limited. The Alaska otter trade, started by Russians in the s, dwindled to almost nothing as the animals were over-hunted in the late s. The sea otter population in the Pacific was estimated at 2, in , when hunting the mammal was banned by international treaty.

Federal biologists now think they number between , and , in Alaska alone, close to estimates of their historic high levels here, DeGange said. Stephen Wells, executive director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, disputes the idea that sea otters are nearing their historic levels.

Wells said Native groups are trying to find foreign buyers for sea otter dance blankets, which usually consist of just two pelts sewn together.

The idea is to have foreign buyers unstitch the blankets to get relatively untouched pelts, he said. Kuiu Kwan Inc. Embassy in Tokyo, and has asked for marketing help in Japan. This what we will call a blanket. The sewing could be pulled apart easily.

DeGange said Justice Department lawyers are working on clarifying the federal regulations in response to inquiries from Kuiu Kwan and other companies about the legality of such sales. These either killed the otters or affected their breeding and immunity to disease. Water pollution from herbicides, fertilizers, farm slurry, industrial effluent and sewage also added to the problem.

In January the otter was declared so rare that it was given legal protection and in the practice of otter hunting with specially bred dogs named otter hounds, was banned. The future - organochlorine pesticides are now banned and freshwater pollution has been reduced.

Conservationists have encouraged landowners to manage their land with otters in mind and they have also organised the protection of stretches of well-wooded riverbanks to safeguard the otters living there. The Otter Trust, based in Suffolk, has, since , bred otters and reintroduced them into now suitable areas where they were previously wiped out.

Thanks to the banning of harmful pesticides, protective laws and better habitat management the otter is now confirmed present in all England's counties - a happy ending for the otter, extinct in most of the country only 60 years ago.

Britain's Disappearing Wildlife.