Feds approve 92 sea lions kills at Bonneville to save fish

Natural Resource News Flash:

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has just authorized the states to kill up to 92 of of Bonneville Dam sea lions each year through May 2016. Salmon and steelhead congregate this time of year at the foot of Bonneville Dam, waiting their turn to climb the fish ladders. Naturally, with so many tasty fish, the sea lions are there too; they eat up to four out of every hundred fish there at the bottom of the first dam on the Columbia. In fact, about 6,000 adult salmon were eaten in 2010, and Oregon, Washington, and Idaho have removed 38 sea lions since 2008. . However, the states are only allowed to take those sea lions that have eaten too many fish, or in the authorization’s language, have “a significant negative impact.”

This isn’t the first time the states have been allowed to remove the greedy sea lions; NOAA authorized killings back in 2008. A Humane Society lawsuit stopped them in 2010, the same year sea lion predation peaked. Unless the Humane Society can stop the authorization this time, it will take effect on Monday, March 26.

For more, go to Oregonian story here


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