Otter News Archive

Nemuro otters charm tourists, vex fishermen

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27th May 2010

Shingo Takeo

Japan Times, Tokyo, Japan

KUSHIRO, Hokkaido — Tourists and residents in Nemuro, eastern Hokkaido, love watching the local sea otters float on their backs and use stones to crack open clams on their stomachs.

But the marine mammals are a headache to fishermen and are even threatening their livelihood.

The fishermen say the otters in the Sea of Okhotsk have ruined three of seven fishing grounds, eating about 18 tons of "uni" (sea urchins) and causing a loss of about ¥31 million.

At the start of the sea urchin season in early March, the fishermen conducted an underwater check only to find the spiny out shells empty. Experts concluded from teeth marks and the way the shells were broken that the urchins had been devoured by sea otters.

People enjoy the way sea otters swim and eat, but they can devour about 12 kg of sea urchins and crab a day.

"This is the first time that we suffered that much loss in the 40 years we have been fishing," Satoshi Moriyama of the local fishing cooperative said.

The damage represents more than 10 percent of the annual catch.

A sea otter was found in the Kushiro River in Kushiro in February 2009, quickly drawing city residents, tourists and amateur photographers. They named it Kuchan.

A sea otter that observers said looked very much like Kuchan was later seen with several others off Cape Nossapu, attracting onlookers armed with cameras. The Nemuro Tourist Information Office was among those who said the mammals produced an "unimaginable economic effect."

Norihisa Kondo, chief curator of the Nemuro City Museum of History and Nature, said he believes the sea otters came to the Kushiro River and Cape Nossapu in search of food. The cape is only a few kilometers from the cooperative's fishing grounds.

Sea otters were victims of fur hunting more than 100 years ago but are now protected by law, making it impossible for the fishing cooperative to drive them away. The Environment Ministry considers them an endangered species.

The cooperative petitioned the Hokkaido Prefectural Government for help in late March while the city of Nemuro set up an ad hoc council in late April to discuss measures to prevent otter damage.

Tourist information officials say the absence of sea otters will hurt the local economy.

"We can't remain calm thinking whether sea otters are eating sea urchins," Moriyama said.

"It's unreasonable that only the fishermen have to endure this situation."