Underwater kelp forests have grown twenty-fold with the return of sea otters off the B.C. coast, which is providing new habitat for a range of fish from rockfish to salmon. But not all Indigenous and coastal communities are reaping the benefits, experts say. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)
Sea otters were nearly wiped out along the B.C. coast by 19th-century fur traders. In the otters' absence, prey species such as clams, sea urchins and crabs thrived. Those booms gave rise to lucrative fisheries that sustained small towns and First Nations along the coast for decades. Between 1972 and 1979, 89 sea otters were reintroduced to their former habitat and protected under the Species At Risk Act. There are now thousands of them. The scientists attempted to measure the environmental, economic and social impacts of the population increase and weigh them against each other in dollars. With fewer urchins grazing on them, underwater kelp forests have grown twenty-fold, providing new habitat for a range of fish from rockfish to salmon. Stocks of ling cod have tripled, and the overall amount of life in the water has increased by 37 per cent, which has created new fisheries worth nearly $10 million. But otters eat up to a quarter of their body weight every day, so various clam fisheries have lost about one-quarter of their value. Fewer crabs and sea urchins have been landed.