In highly populated colonies, the burrows of two or three of the animals sometimes run together. Hunting puffins is discouraged nowadays in most places, and forbidden by law in others, but people who do still hunt them try to capture only non-breeding animals. In the past, skins were used to make tough parkas worn feather side in. Puffins are also used as tourist attractions for communities near healthy colonies, but visitors must watch the birds from the ocean. Because human disturbances may cause puffins to leave their nesting sites, people are often prohibited from landing at nesting sites.
Puffins are also indicators of a healthy ocean, and show humans when over-fishing is occuring.
When there are fewer fish in the ocean, puffins bring a noticeably reduced amount of fish ashore. Negative Fratercula cirrhata does no harm of economic importance to humans. The puffin will only harm people when they intrude on their nesting sites. No special status Fratercula cirrhata is not a threatened species, but in some locations its numbers are decreasing. In Alaska, they are highly abundant, but the seabird colonies of Alaska are protected by federal and state laws.