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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rick Tischaefer" data-source="post: 171219" data-attributes="member: 3901">RIVER OTTERTraps, cable devices – Opens: Nov. 27, 2017 – Closes: Mar. 15, 2018River otters may only be harvested by North Dakota residents. The limit is one river otter per trapper per season. River otters may be harvested statewide. Trappers must contact the local game warden or Department field office to report their harvest within 12 hours and make arrangements to have the river otter tagged. The pelt must be removed from the carcass prior to presenting the river otter to Department personnel for tagging. No river otter pelt will be tagged until the animal is skinned and presented with the intact carcass. The carcass shall remain property of the Department. No person, taxidermist or fur dealer shall possess or purchase an untagged river otter. When any part of the animal is mounted, if the tag is removed from the pelt, the tag must be securely fastened to the back or bottom of mount. There is a harvest limit of 15 rivers otters. Once the harvest limit of 15 river otters is reached, the season will close immediately. The Department will inform the public of this closure through the media. The harvest limit will not include river otters accidentally caught outside of established season dates or by Wildlife Services, the Department, private landowners in defense of livestock or personal property, road killed, or those harvested on Indian Lands. River otters accidentally captured after the close of the season must be reported to the Department within 12 hours and turned over to the Department.River Otter Harvest Season Q&AQ1: Why are we opening a river otter trapping season?A1: Data we have collected and research findings indicate that river otters have re-colonized most areas of the state where they occurred historically and populations exist that can sustain a regulated season. River otters are incidentally caught during water trapping activity and some are killed by automobiles. It is desirable to allow people to keep the pelts of those being caught or killed each year. Having a regulated season would facilitate an increase in available data with which we could better monitor the population.Q2: Why do river otter pelts need to be tagged?A2: River otters are listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). In order to sell/export a river otter out of state, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) requires that the pelt be CITES tagged. Mandatory tagging of river otter pelts also facilitates collection of their carcasses, from which we will collect biological data to monitor population trends. USFWS has approved of our river otter management plan and will authorize the use of CITES tags.Q3: Why allow only trapping of river otters, and not hunting too?A3: River otters are a furbearer that is traditionally trapped. Allowing trappers to harvest river otters incidentally caught while water trapping is a major benefit to having a regulated season. By allowing people to hunt river otters, this benefit would be lost.Q4: Why can each person harvest only 1 river otter?A4: We want to give as many people as possible access to the small harvest limit.Q5: Do we have any data to indicate that harvesting 15 river otters will not effect the overall population?A5: Yes, currently we document at least 15 river otters being killed annually in North Dakota. The true number of river otter mortalities per year is likely greater than that, yet the river otter population continues to be stable or increasing. We have designed a regulated harvest season with which we are confident the harvest of 15 river otters will not be additive to the mortality we are already experiencing, therefore ensuring a stable or increasing population.Q6: Will a river otter caught incidentally by a trapper who’s already caught a river otter in the current year count towards the harvest limit?A6: Yes, only river otters taken by USDA Wildlife Services, the Department, private landowners in defense of livestock or personal property, road killed, or those harvested on Indian Lands do not count towards the harvest limit.Q7: Why not open up the season earlier than mid- to late-November?A7: River otter pelts do not prime up until mid- to late-November. We will monitor the effects of these season dates on the harvest of river otters and make adjustments to future seasons if warranted.Q8: Will there be open and closed zones for the river otter harvest season?A8: No, the harvest season will be open statewide.Went through the advisory board public hearing process in the fall of 2016 and the spring of 2017. This harvest season has been many years in the making, it is good for the resource, it is responsible wildlife management, and is good for North Dakota. Looking forward to a harvest season this fall. Rick Tischaefer</blockquote>

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