The State has asked for permission to kill sea lions again in the spring. Despite the fact that the agencies involved have done nothing to address the concerns of the courts or the citizens of this region, the NMFS has given initial approval to the request. This is just the first step in the process – thanks to the courts and the Sea Lion Defense Brigade, they must start the entire process over from the beginning. That includes the PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD, which could mean the difference between life and death for the sea lions.
When the NMFS approved the initial application 5 years ago, there were hundreds of comments from fishermen and fishing industry shills, and almost none in defense of the sea lions. By law, every comment must be considered. I cannot overstate this enough: Sea lions have DIED for the past 5 years because GOOD PEOPLE LIKE YOU DID NOTHING TO STOP THE KILLING. Although the majority of Cascadians understand that the salmon are going extinct due to over-fishing, dams, and habitat destruction, and while most people do not support the killing of intelligent, native, wildlife to prop up the fishing industry for a few more years, NO ONE SAID ANYTHING last time around. It seems we all expected someone else to do this for us. Well, now we know.
Dozens of sea lions died because there were not enough people doing good work to stop this from happening. Let us NEVER let that happen again. PLEASE take the 5 minutes necessary, and SUBMIT A PUBLIC COMMENT to save the sea lions. To do so, please go here http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=NOAA-NMFS-2011-0216-0001 and speak up for the animals. Here are some talking points to get you started, but you can also use your own words, or read some of the many articles on this site for more information.
1. Killing sea lions will not save salmon. Salmon and sea lions co-evolved together for tens of thousands of years on this river, and the two species thrived side by side for all of recorded history. The salmon did not decline until dams and the fishing industry came to this region, and THOSE are the issues that must be addressed to save them. Scapegoating sea lions is simply a costly smokescreen that will cost both species many lives unless this program is stopped.
2. They had 5 years to show the world how they could kill their way out of extinction, and they proved that it cannot be done. NO salmon were saved despite five years and millions of dollars of effort, despite some outrageous and very public scandals, and despite them cutting plenty of corners around being able to individually identify each animal. STILL, not a single fish was saved. Why? Because you cannot save salmon by killing off native predators. You have to address the REAL PROBLEMS.
3. Until the gill nets come off the river, anything else is a moot point. We will never save the salmon so long as gill nets are allowed to ply the waters of the Columbia river, home to more than a dozen runs of endangered fish.
4. The ODFW routinely stocks non-native bass and other non-native species that EAT SALMON. Even their own reports conclude that the stocking of non-native fish is responsible for many times more salmon deaths than all the sea lions put together. Yet they continue to stock, to make fishermen happy. Yes, fishermen. The same folks who are complaining that we need to kill sea lions to “save” all of “our” fish.
5. The lethal removal program is in violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Even Section 120, the section added in the 90s to erode away the protections of the law, requires that they be able to INDIVIDUALLY IDENTIFY the animals whom they say are the “culprits.” They say they are doing this, but in reality all they are doing is killing *any* animal who is seen eating even ONE fish. Several sea lions died last year for eating fewer than three fish. At least one was condemned to die for the crime of eating ONE fish. These are not “culprits,” these are just animals trying to survive in their native, natural habitat.
6. Bonneville dam does a lot of damage to salmon, and is making it very hard for them to survive into the 21st century. However, this is NOT because sea lions hunt salmon at the foot of the dam. On the contrary, a large barrier where pinnipeds hunt for salmon has ALWAYS been a part of this ecosystem. Before the dam, there was Celilo falls, and the sea lions would hunt below the falls. Yet, in spite of this fact, and in spite of the presence of not tens, but THOUSANDS of pinnipeds on the river, all year long, there were still nearly 20 million salmon when Lewis and Clark came here in the early 1800s. Thus, the sea lions are not new here, and are not a problem to the salmon species. Instead, it is the fishing industry and a network of dams that are new and cor-relational to the decline of the salmon.
7. Killing is not necessary, and they have not made a case for it. The recent report to Congress stated that the fish populations in the spring run were “stable or increasing” and identified hatchery reform and harvest management as the most important things to address to improve recovery.
8. Last year, sea lions were estimated to have killed less than 2% of the ESA listed salmon while fisheries killed more than 10%. Dams killed upwards of 59% of the salmon.
9. No killing was allowed last year by the courts (though the ODFW did illegally trap and kill one animal, they were immediately stopped and were unable to do it again for the year). Both the percentage and number of salmon eaten last year were less than prior years–despite the fact that sea lions were not killed last year. “Management” techniques have had no impact at all, other than to end the lives of at least two dozen animals.
10. killing won’t work as sea lions come and go continually–there is not a resident population that killing might “control.”
These are the first things that come to mind. But feel free to use your own voice. Just please, SUBMIT A COMMENT. If you would rather write a letter or a card, please do! Here is the address where you can mail your comments:
Donna Darm, Assistant Regional Administrator, Protected Resources Division, NMFS, 1201 NE. Lloyd Blvd., Suite 1100, Portland, OR 97232
