The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a legal effort by commercial shellfish fishers to force the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to maintain an “otter-free zone” between Point Conception and the Mexican border, as congressionally mandated in 1986 by Public Law 99-625. Soon after the law was established, Fish & Wildlife abandoned efforts to capture and move otters from the zone because the process sometimes proved fatal to the marine mammals, which are protected by federal law.
U.S. Supreme Court Declines Sea Otter Case
Commercial Fishers Wanted Feds to Uphold Law