Daniel G. Scognamillo

Although thousands of river otters (Lontra canadensis) are harvested every year in Louisiana, no formal management plan exists for the species. As a first step toward development of such a plan, we described general trends and associations between number of otters harvested and pelt price and number of licensed trappers during 1957-2004. We also applied time series analysis to develop forecasting models for river otters harvested. Although number of otters harvested was stationary, trends were detected in number of licensed trappers and pelt price. The early 1980s appear as a point of...

Louisiana is the leading state in number of river otters (Lontra canadensis) used in reintroduction programs in other states and in the production of pelts. However, habitat loss and degradation have prompted concern about the status of otter populations. We analyzed harvesting records maintained by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries during 1983-2001 to identify spatial and temporal trends in otter harvesting activity. To summarize temporal trends, we estimated mean number of otters harvested and trappers, correlation coefficients for number otters trapped and number of...