Judge gives go-ahead to kill salmon-munching sea lions

The Columbian ^ | November 26, 2008 | Erik Robinson

[jazusamo]

A federal judge this week gave the go-ahead to kill sea lions feasting on salmon at Bonneville Dam, but a Washington state fishery manager said Wednesday that managers will continue to try to trap and relocate the animals first.

U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman on Tuesday ruled against the Humane Society of the United States, which sued to block the lethal-take permit issued to state fishery managers earlier this year by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The states want to kill nuisance sea lions that have in recent years taken advantage of a man-made bottleneck to devour imperiled salmon.

“We’re disappointed and planning to appeal,” said Sharon Young, the organization’s marine issues director.

In the meantime, state fishery managers plan to continue last spring’s trap-and-haul program beginning in March. Oregon and Washington fishing managers established live traps to capture nuisance sea lions identified by brands on their hides, although that program was suspended in early May after six animals died of heat stroke.

State officials will continue to contact zoos and aquariums willing to take nuisance animals, said Guy Norman, regional director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in Vancouver.

“We would plan to take off where we left off, which is focus on the relocation efforts initially,” Norman said. “We did have room for 19 animals last year. We filled six of those (slots), and we’re hoping those vacancies would still remain.”

Judge Mosman’s ruling is the latest wrinkle in a long-running saga.

The fisheries service granted a request by Washington, Oregon and Idaho to lethally remove nuisance animals congregating in front of the dam. Three years of intensive springtime hazing failed to dissuade sea lions, which gathered by the dozen in front of the dam.

The lethal-take permit enables states to kill as many as 85 sea lions a year.

State and federal biologists estimate California sea lions ate about 3,900 fish at the dam in 2007, which amounts to about 4.2 percent of all the fish that arrived at the dam from January to the end of May. During the same period this year, the Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the dam, observed 4,230 salmon and steelhead eaten by almost 100 sea lions — about 2.8 percent of a larger overall run.

Among the Humane Society’s arguments, it contends those numbers are too low to meet the threshold under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which allows the killing of nuisance sea lions only if they’re having a “significant adverse effect” on endangered salmon. By comparison, the Humane Society argued, state fishery managers allow human fishermen to incidentally kill as much as 12 percent of imperiled wild fish.

However, federal officials assert that the sea lions’ actual kill rate probably is higher than what observers can see.

Mosman agreed. He cited a calculation by federal managers that the rate of predation at Bonneville Dam in 2007 could have been as high as 12.6 percent of spring chinook salmon and 22.1 percent of steelhead.

Further, Mosman noted that states have curtailed fishing substantially in recent years to protect imperiled wild salmon stocks.

“In contrast ... pinniped predation is growing, and the states have not been able to control or regulate it,” the judge wrote.

[djf]

Sea lions are highly intelligent animals.

All it would take is shooting two or three, then leave their carcasses floating on the river and the rest would catch on quick.

Same thing would probably work for child molesters.

[jazusamo]

then leave their carcasses floating on the river and the rest would catch on quick.

I honestly believe you're right but it's doubtful the AR activists would ever let that happen. As long as this has gone on I even wonder if they get the green light to shoot some they will actually do it, the fisheries people seem to be against it as well.

[sionnsar]

Thanks for pinging us! I saw this story, or one like it earlier, but had to run off to help prepare for a Choral Evensong service at church this evening.

[Grampa Dave]

Yep, kill the salmon serial killers before Zer0 and his peta/green thugs are in office.