Page 17 - Sonoma County Gazette September 2019
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SEARCHING cont’d from page 334
Bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana).
Additionally, otters learn what to eat from their mothers. If an otter’s mother does not eat urchin, then that
otter also does not eat urchin, so
reintroducing otters who might not
  The next species hit by this story of ripples is the Red abalone (Haliotis rufescens). They have now lost their primary food source, the Bull kelp. Over the last four years, we have seen thousands of Red abalone wash up in Sandy Cove. Searching for a new food supply, they travel higher and higher in the intertidal zone, but they are not finding enough to remain strong and healthy and, as a result, are dying en masse.
 The Red abalone population is dying
in such high numbers that the CDFW
has closed the entire California abalone season until March of 2021. This puts a strain on the commercial industry. There are many whose livelihoods depend on
the income brought in from harvesting abalone, but this minor pause on the ‘take’ of abalone is essential to the preservation of the species.
  The number one question I am asked as an educator is: why don’t we reintroduce sea otters?
After speaking with Environmental Scientist Dr. Cynthia Catton of CDFW, I have a much better understanding of why this is not a simple fix to this complicated, multifaceted problem.
To start, we seem to be too far into this imbalance to ‘throw’ sea otters into the mix. While sea urchin can be a favored food
of some sea otters, at this point, even the urchins here are starving, so the nutritional
value they would offer is minimal. Otters would only take the urchins still able to find food, on the edges, leaving all the barrens.
  even eat urchin would only put other species like the starving abalone at risk.
While it does seem bleak, there are things that we can do. It turns out, we may be the predators needed in this complicated tragedy.
Current research aims to create
a new commercial purple urchin
market by making agricultural
compost out of their harvested tests (their hard outer body). For individuals, the daily bag limit used to be 35 urchins/person. Now the take is forty gallons a day, which is eight, five-gallon buckets. Their outer body is nearly pure calcium, adding excellent nutrients for soils. Collecting urchin, individually, or in groups, could help put a dent in the urchin overpopulation.
Most importantly, one of the biggest things you can do is help
Both the Greater Farallones Association and the Noyo Center have excellent Kelp Recovery/Restoration programs and Fort Ross Conservancy continues to educate people about this issue. Together, we can make a difference.
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” -- John Muir
To learn more, read California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife’s “The Perfect Storm.”
Song K Hunter, Director of Programs, Fort Ross Conservancy, Marine Ecology Program & Environmental Living Program, Fort Ross Conservancy, 19005 Coast Highway 1, Jenner, CA 95450 • fortross.org • 707.847.3437
IMAGES © Song K Hunter and www.inaturalist.org
Red Abalone (Haliotis rufescens)
  to spread the word. Be an educator!
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