https://tdn.com/news/local/u-s...c6-c1cf58177497.html



U.S. House passes Herrera Beutler bill authorizing lethal sea lion removal

Zack Hale zack.hale@tdn.com 1 hr ago



Federally protected sea lions that feed on endangered salmon could be shot and killed under bipartisan legislation approved Tuesday by the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bill, co-sponsored by Southwest Washington Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler and Oregon Democrat Kurt Schrader, authorizes the “lethal removal” of California and Steller sea lions that prey on Chinook and steelhead salmon in the Columbia River.

Local fishermen and tribes have blamed rebounding sea lion populations for hastening the decline of wild Chinook salmon runs. Falling wild Chinook numbers have also threatened the region’s endangered southern resident Orca whale population.

The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act already allows state agencies to kill up to 96 “individually identifiable” sea lions seen eating endangered salmon, but the bill championed by Herrera Beutler goes significantly further. The legislation authorizes state agencies to grant permits allowing hunters to kill up to 100 sea lions per year. Each permit holder would also be required to undergo training in natural resources management.

The total number of killings would be limited to 10 percent of the maximum number of sea lions that could be safely removed from the population.

The U.S. Secretary of the Interior could also suspend the issuance of permits after five years if the lethal removal of sea lions is deemed unnecessary to protect wild salmon runs.

A recent study by Oregon State University found that increasing predation from sea lions has eaten into the fishery harvest of adult Chinook salmon in the Pacific Northwest, including on the Columbia River.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates that sea lions consumed between 4.3 percent and 5.8 percent of the salmon and steelhead runs below Bonneville Dam over the last three years (see attached report).

“For the salmon and steelhead fighting to make it upstream, today’s vote in the U.S. House of Representatives significantly improves their chances of survival,” Herrera Beutler said in a press release. “We’re not anti-sea lion. We’re just for protecting a Pacific Northwest treasure: salmon, steelhead, sturgeon and other native fish species iconic to our region.”

U.S. Sen Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., introduced an identical bill last week co-sponsored by Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and it’s unclear when it could get a vote.

Both bills are supported by the governors of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, as well as the Ilwaco Charter Association, Coalition of Coastal Fisheries, and public utilities.

But a biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute said Tuesday that killing more sea lions will not reverse the decline of wild salmon runs.

“The main problem is that this is not going to solve the problem,” Naomi Rose, the institute’s marine mammal biologist, said in an interview. “This is an example of lawmakers scapegoating these natural predators to satisfy the anger that constituent groups feel toward salmon decline.”

Rose said wild salmon numbers have fallen mostly due to a loss of habitat and the construction of dams on the Columbia River.

Killing more sea lions could even make the problem worse, she said, because sea lions consume other species of fish that eat young salmon.

The decline of salmon, one of the region’s iconic species, has been attributed to a host of factors: overfishing, habitat destruction, construction of the hydroelectric dams and predation by Caspian terns and cormorants. Sea lions historically have shared the salmon’s ecosystem, but their numbers have rebounded while the fish runs are still far below their historic, pre-dam levels. So the mammals’ impact on salmon runs is more pronounced, especially because manmade structures like fish ladders have made it easier for the sea lions to catch them.

Since gaining protected status, the number of California sea lions has increased from 5,900 to 47,000, and Steller sea lions increased from 74,400 to 78,500, according to state researchers.

U.S. Sen Patty Murray, D-Wash, said in a statement Tuesday that she is still reviewing the proposed legislation.

“It’s critically important to our state — from our economy, to our heritage, to the need to respect tribal treaty rights — that we continue working to restore our iconic Pacific salmon runs,” she said.

As with a lot of species that we saved from the brink.

Their populations have expanded to such numbers they need serious control.

Yup, let’s add the seals we have here in the Atlantic. Thousands and thousands of them. Their population explosion in the Gulf of Maine and the Outer Cape Cod has caused an influx of Great Whites that find them quite delicious.

quote:

oing to solve the problem,” Naomi Rose, the institute’s marine mammal biologist, said in an interview. “This is an example of lawmakers scapegoating these natural predators to satisfy the anger that constituent groups feel toward salmon decline.”

Yeah well I remember when Hershell the sea lion was in the Ballard locks eating all but 23 steelhead that made it up to the Cedar river years ago. After years of haggling with the animal rights folks in and out of court including death threats from them the simple removal of three sea lions completely solved the problem. The fish run was restored.

One other thing to note here for all who think only with republicans will you find support for this kind of thing. In both Washington and Oregon it it was a BIPARTISAN bill that made this kind of thing happen.

I've said it before here, if you only look to one party to solve problems you're giving away 50% of your potential allies.

And Democrats can be such a dumb asses in these departments

What are they going to propose as far as removing the Indians and their damn gill nets. If the seals don't get them the Indian gill nets do, so I don't see how this helps increase the salmon and steelhead runs. Was this law backed by the tribes?

I live about 200 yards above the Columbia River in Columbia County OR. Our deck has a 180 view of the river.

The sea lions are grossly overpopulated. In addition to the impact on the fisheries, they are extremely destructive about the docks and smaller npboats. They like to pile on both until they’re destroyed and sink.

In re fill nets. My understanding is there is phase out of gill netting over several years.