https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200611152531.htm

But the long-term benefits of sea otter recovery -- such as healthier kelp forests, higher fish catches, carbon storage and tourism -- could be worth as much as $53 million per year, according to new UBC research. If well-managed, these economic benefits could offset commercial losses to shellfish fisheries of $7 million per year.

The study, published today in Science, is the first regional economic analysis of the costs and benefits of sea otter recovery along the west coast of Vancouver Island. Critically, it offers a new modeling framework to evaluate the significant long-term ecological changes driven by a top predator like the sea otter.