The Issue

Is your salmon - sea lion safe? If it came from the Columbia River, it is not.
While hundreds of thousands of fishermen are encouraged to come and fish the Columbia River each year, California sea lions are being branded, hazed and killed for eating salmon -- the same salmon that fishermen are encouraged to catch -- on the Columbia River.


On March 15, 2012, NOAA Fisheries issued a letter authorizing the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho to use lethal means to remove up to 92 salmon-eating sea lions from the Columbia River near the Bonneville Dam. Following the release of the letter, the Humane Society of the United States filed a lawsuit and sought a temporary restraining order to prevent the killings. The lawsuit is pending, however a federal judge denied the restraining order. Judge James Boasberg did rule that 30 sea lions (not 92) can be killed per year and that the method of killing shall be by lethal injection.

The states claim they are removing the sea lions to protect threatened and endangered populations of salmon and steelhead. The California sea lion is a protected species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. However, the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho have been granted permission to kill the sea lions by NOAA –Fisheries, the federal agency responsible for managing marine animals. The authority was granted under Section 120 of the act and allows the states to use lethal and non-lethal (hazing) means to remove individual California sea lions that have been documented eating salmon or steelhead in the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam.
Oregon reports that Sport fishing generates substantial economic benefits. There were an estimated 631,000 anglers in 2008, accounting for about 8.4 million fishing days and fishing trip-related expenditures of $341.5 million state-wide. Commercial salmon fishing also contributes to Oregon’s economy. In 2010, personal income impacts of the Columbia River salmon fisheries were estimated at $9.5 million.

So, is the lethal removal of sea lions really about protecting endangered salmon, or is it about bringing the almighty dollar into state coffers, even at the expense of the LIVES of protected marine mammals?

SAVE A SEA LION - DON’T BUY SALMON THAT CAME FROM THE COLUMBIA RIVER & DON’T SUPPORT SPORT FISHING ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER.



photo of branded sea lions near the Bonneville Dam courtesy of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
 

No comments:

Post a Comment