Indeed, five sea lions died in a single day this week on the Columbia. In response, concerned Oregonians stormed the office of ACE biologist and kill-apologist Robert Stansell for answers on the morning after the killing. Stansell, however, hid in his office and refused to come out. This morning, a delegation of representatives from at least three different animal advocacy organizations went to Salem to ODFW headquarters, to speak to ODFW commissioners about the lack of science, lack of wisdom, and lack of compassion inherent in the killing program. Stay tuned for next steps. In the meantime, please call NOAA director Jane Lubchenco at 202-482-3436 to demand that the program be ended. It is not working. Sea lions are dying, but salmon are not being saved. Lubchenco has the authority to end this program with the stroke of a pen. Encourage her to do so.

ODFW spokesman Rick Hargrave reports that seven sea lions were trapped on the Columbia today and that five of these were slated to be killed. At the time that a SLDB member spoke with him – around noon today – Hargrave did not know whether the sea lions had already been killed or were about to die. But he said he was certain that they were to be killed.

Alas.

You may reach Mr. Hargrave for more information or to tell him what you think about the killing by calling (503) 947-6020 or faxing (971) 673-6070.

ALERT: The ODFW traps are back on the Columbia. At least half a dozen sea lions on the ODFW’s death list are already at the dam, brazenly eating fish despite the demands of fishermen and government lackeys that they cease and desist this outrageous behavior. (Because, of course, the fishermen deserve to have all the fish to themselves, scooped “safely” up into their nets. How dare those sea lions take some of the salmon away from the fish nets.) Volunteers are needed immediately to begin monitoring the river this spring, as we fear the killing could begin again at any moment. Lionel, a friendly little rogue named by Redland Elementary students last year, is among the sea lions present at the dam and on the ODFW’s death list. Redland kids watched Glider, another whom they had also named, captured and killed by government agents last year. One child who is a student at Redland expresses fear for Lionel: “I’m just praying that they leave him alone and don’t kill him like they did Glider,” the child said in a conversation. “It’s just not right that they don’t get that sea lions are supposed to eat fish and it’s good for the environment but when fishing takes away all the fish it’s bad because they think all the fish are theirs.” The Redland student went on to explain that he learned in school that there is a balance in nature and that predators are important and keep other species healthy. Indeed. I think there are some fishermen and some ODFW staffers around who could stand to go back to school.

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Sea lions showing up in Oregon
Tom Stienstra, Chronicle Outdoors Writer
Thursday, January 7, 2010

excerpt from the article:

The abundant sea lion population in this area has created a micro-ecosystem where wildlife flourishes, Saubert said.

“What I think is happening is the sea lions follow the food supply,” Saubert said. “Now we have all these sea lions here. They eat fish and their waste goes to the bottom. That fertilizes the marine food chain. You get plankton and brine shrimp, and that brings in the small fish and the whales. The small fish bring in the seabirds and the bigger fish. So the sea lions have plenty to eat and the cycle starts over again.” Upwelling, a trigger for the marine food chain set off by winds out of the northwest, is often significant here.

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Today, the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments regarding whether or not to allow ODFW to continue to kill sea lions on the Columbia river. While it is too soon to tell how the judges might rule, lead counsel Sarah Uhlemann argued forcefully and eloquently on behalf of the sea lions. The judges seemed very interested in how the agencies involved with the killing could have determined, on multiple occasions, that the killing of salmon by the fishing industry and by dams does not pose a significant threat to salmon recovery, while the much lower rate of take by sea lions somehow does pose a significant threat. On at least two occasions, government attorneys actually made blatantly incorrect statements that were later corrected by Uhlemann. The first came when the judges questioned the agencies’ assertion that the killing by the fishing industry and the dams is different from the killing by sea lions because the killing by fishermen and dams is “controlled,” and “remediated,” while the killing by sea lions is not.

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Last week, a young sea lion lay dying on the coast near Seaside. Although her condition was completely treatable, authorities were adamant that no treatment would be provided: They decreed that nature should take its course with the animal, and that they felt they needed to “keep humans out of the equation.” This might have made more sense, had the sea lion not been sick and malnourished in the first place due to human interference in the ocean ecosystem. It is also interesting to note that NMFS was one of the agencies dictating a “hands off” approach regarding the sick animal. This agency, after all, has allowed the very violent human intervention into the affairs of the sea lions of the Pacific NW, in the form of the “lethal removal” program on the Columbia that has already cost more than a dozen sea lions their lives. Thankfully, this is Cascadia, and here, we like to think (and act) for ourselves.

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Once again, the State of Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife has lied to the public regarding the killing of Columbia river sea lions. On May 19th of this year, they claimed in a public statement that the trapping and killing had ended for the year. Sea Lion Defense Brigadiers sought and received a personal assurance from ODFW spokesman Rick Hargrave that this statement meant that there would be no more killing of sea lions by ODFW anywhere on the Columbia in 2009. Mr. Hargrave stated that “trapping and marking” in Astoria would continue but, when pressed several times for a clear response, finally stated that no, no more animals would be “euthanized” by ODFW this year. However, on August 24th, they trapped a sea lion on the Oregon coast, in Astoria, more than a hundred miles from Bonneville dam. And they killed him. They claimed he “met the criteria for removal,” meaning that he had been “observed eating at least one fish.”

The state failed to notify the public of this killing in a timely manner.

At a time when thousands of sea lions are starving to death from Chile to Canada, when the public is struggling to save them, and while NOAA is apparently trying to figure out why they are dying, the ODFW has resumed killing those sea lions who venture into Oregon waters. The irony is compounded when one appreciates that the reason so many sea lions are starving to death is very likely over-fishing. (For more information on the connection between over-fishing and starving sea lions, see below.) And so, to protect the interests of people who want to fish until there are no fish left in the oceans, the ODFW is killing sea lions to make more room for the fishermen.

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