Marine Mammals; Finding on Petition To List the Alaska Stock of Sea Otters as Depleted

Zusammenfassung

On August 21, 2001, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) received a petition under section 115 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) from the Center for Biological Diversity. The petition requests that FWS list the Alaska stock of sea otters as depleted. The FWS finds that the petition does not present substantial information that the petitioned action is warranted. The FWS has determined that the statewide population of sea otters in Alaska is larger than presented in the petition. Furthermore, the best available scientific information indicates that multiple stocks of sea otters exist in Alaska.