Sea Lions Gun Pointed

Oregon and Washington states are proposing a "limited selected lethal removal'' of protected California sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in the Columbia River to bring down pressure on the spring chinook salmon (Onchorhynchus tshawytscha ) (photo above) run.

Charles Corralino, head of the conservation and recovery program for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the proposal will be finished till October.

Federal approval could be given in two to four years.

This could put in peril the life of C404, probably the smartest and most famous of the sea lions who gather at the base of Bonneville Dam each spring looking for an easy catch.

C404 got famous by avoiding every effort to drive him and his group out of the fish ladders the salmon use to get past the dam.

Since 2003, he has been showing up almost on a timetable for the spring chinook run.

"It is a conservation issue,'' Corralino said. "Sea lions and salmon have lived in harmony since the rocks cooled.''

"When the Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed in 1972, there were about 50,000 California sea lions. There are about 300,000 today," he said, "implying the protection act may have worked too well. It has gotten out of balance"

The California sea lions are not listed as endangered or threatened but are protected. One subspecies of Steller sea lion, which was found in the Columbia, is listed as endangered.

Guy Norman, regional director for southwest Washington for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said: "We hope to minimize that and focus on those who most contribute to the problem'' and also those who don't respond to nonlethal deterrents.

At a time of uncertain salmon stocks and increased demand, the sea lions eat about 3 percent of the fish that gather at the dam's base. These are the first predators they meet on their journey upriver from the Pacific Ocean.


Commercial and tribal fishermen have been complaining that sea lions are affecting both salmon and sturgeon and have to be controlled for years.

Corralino said the proposal would be limited to sea lions in the Columbia River.


An official of the Humane Society of the United States said that removal won't solve the problem and that the state has tried chasing away the sea lions with loud noises, huge firecrackers and rubber bullets for two years, and those efforts will increase.

The only previous such removal effort was in the 1990s at the Ballard Locks in Seattle.

But after protests, a Humane Society lawsuit and a clemency plea from President Clinton, the worst of the lot got packed off to Sea World in Orlando and none was killed.

Meanwhile, Corralino said, the winter steelhead salmon ( Onchorhynchus mykiss) run through the dams was effectively wiped out.

Astoria salmon fisherman Brian Tarabachia applauded the removal idea but said the endangered Steller sea lions should be left alone.

"From a fisherman's standpoint and a salmon advocate I would certainly recommend the removal of the California sea lions,'' he said.

"They have an effect not only on salmon but in the past couple of years they have moved on the sturgeon. They are eating the oversize fish, 60 or 70 years old. These are the breeding stock.''

"The killing of the sea lions will not solve the problem when there are a lot of other animals around,'' said Sharon Young, field director for marine issues for the Humane Society of the United States.

"Killing sea lions is easier than taking on thornier issues such as hydroelectric dams and agricultural runoff."

"When you start taking out sea lions it looks like you're doing something to help the problem when all you are doing is distracting from the real problems,'' she said.

"We are committed to saving the fish but killing the sea lions is not the way to do it. Killing sea lions is a waste of time, money and lives.''