A sea lion dines on salmon near Bonneville Dam (photo: Associated Press)
A federal judge in Oregon delivered a death sentence for California sea lions that venture into the Pacific Northwest in search of Chinook salmon and steelheads.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon ruled in a lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States that a fisheries preservation program—at the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River and at the Willamette Falls fish ladder on the Willamette River—is legal.
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) reauthorized the program last year through 2016. It permits Oregon, Washington and Idaho to kill up to 92 sea lions a year once it has been determined that efforts to stop them from gobbling up the fish have failed. The salmon and steelheads are officially endangered species and the NMFS certified that the sea lions posed a “significant negative impact.”
The Humane Society disagreed and argued that you don’t have to kill sea lions to save fish. Sea lions only eat about 4% of the fish passing through the two locations, while commercial and sport fishermen take up to 17%.
Sea lions used to dine on Northwest cuisine regularly in the past, but they practically disappeared there in the 20th century when they themselves became an endangered species. However, sea lions have made a comeback in California since passage in 1972 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and have been showing up uninvited in Oregon in bigger numbers every year.
Despite their increased population, sea lions are still a protected species under MMPA, and one species, the Steller sea lion, is protected under the Endangered Species Act. A decade ago, just a few sea lions would show up in Oregon during fish migration season. Around 30 were spotted at the Bonneville Dam in 2002 and by last year that number had climbed to around 100. They swim about 140 miles to get there.
Chinook salmon, however, have experience a significant decline in numbers, with the government estimating that only 144,000 would make the Columbia spring run.
No decision to appeal the judge’s ruling was announced.
–Ken Broder
To Learn More:
Judge: Program Targeting Sea Lions Can Continue (Associated Press)
Judge Dismisses Humane Society Lawsuit that Opposed Killing Sea Lions at Bonneville Dam (by Scott Learn, The Oregonian)
Annual Clash over Sea Lions, Salmon Resumes (by Anne Marie DiStefano, Sustainable Life)