Matt Rossell’s interview on national television today: http://tinyurl.com/2c94st4
We need to be asking ourselves why local journalists here in the NW are refusing to cover this story beyond repeating ODFW press releases verbatim. Why aren’t they asking the questions this host is asking?
Sea Lion Defender and NW IDA director Matt Rossell will be talking to Jane Velez-Mitchell tomorrow regarding what is happening to sea lions in the Pacific NW. In the wake of two more killings (which occurred at Bonneville Dam 5 days AFTER the Army Corps of Engineers stated in a public document that the traps had been removed and stored, and trapping had ended at the dam for the year), the media is finally picking up on the story of the war against nature taking place on the Columbia. Pending breaking news developments, the segment should air on “Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell” on Friday 7 to 8 pm Eastern time (likely earlier our time – check listings) on Headline News Channel HLN.
On May 18th, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) gave the departments of fish and wildlife in the States of Oregon and Washington permission to add six more sea lions to the list of animals whom they are allowed to kill for the crime of eating fish. These animals are, according to the latest Letter of Authority from NOAA to the States:
C667 – Observed in the tailrace of the dam on 7 days in 2010 with 10 documented salmonids
consumed.
C841 – Observed in the tailrace of the dam on 5 days in 2010 with 3 documented salmonids
consumed.
B317 – Observed in the tailrace of the dam on 6 days in 2010 with 18 documented salmonids
consumed.
B318 – Observed in the tailrace of the dam on 5 days in 2010 with 23 documented salmonids
consumed.
B325 – Observed in the tailrace of the dam on 7 days in 2010 with 2 documented
salmonids consumed.
5490 – Observed in the tailrace of the dam on 8 days in 2010 with 4 documented salmonids
consumed.
Read the rest of this entry »
For the time being, the traps have been removed from Bonneville dam. The killing season is over for another year. This does not mean that sea lions are not still in danger: Indeed, the ODFW has been given the authority to kill sea lions on their hit list anywhere they find them, at any time of the year, with the exception of their rookeries. Last year, they killed one sea lion more than 100 miles from the dam, in August. So the danger continues for now. Volunteer monitors still being sought to keep an eye on the entire Columbia, and on the coast.
[UPDATE: Although monitors saw the traps removed, and although the May 21st Army Corps of Engineers Status Report stated that traps had been removed and stored, and that trapping at the dam had ended for the year, the traps were redeployed five days later and two more animals were killed. Sad that the ODFW feels the need to play such games with the public. As citizens of the Pacific NW, we believe we have the right to witness what our state agencies are doing - with OUR tax dollars no less - to our shared ecosystem. We also believe in government accountability. Apparently, ODFW does not share our belief. How do YOU feel about it?]
Yesterday was Sea Wolf One’s last day overlooking the traps on the Columbia River. The mobile monitoring vehicle has been in the field documenting and intervening against the government’s program to trap and kill sea lions for exactly two months. The sea lions have already begun their natural migration back to the mouth of the Columbia where they will head south down the coast from there.
Has the Sea Lion Defense Brigade been successful?
Read the rest of this entry »
This week the numbers of sea lions near the dam have dropped off considerably as they begin to return to the mouth of the Columbia as part of their natural migration down the coast. While the numbers at the dam have decreased, the numbers of California and Stellars have risen in Astoria as most will prepare to leave the area.
This week we talked to quite a few people visiting the river with binoculars and cameras trying to catch a glimpse of the sea lions in action. SLDB talked to many locals visiting from Stevenson, North Bonneville, Portland, Troutdale and Vancouver. However, we have also made friends with members of the Yakima tribe (who still need to stop by to try some nettles 
) and we met people SPECIFICALLY visiting the area for the sea lions from Idaho and Seattle.
Read the rest of this entry »
The state has been granted the authority, by NOAA, to add nine more sea lions to the list of those who may now be killed.
According to the latest Letter of Authority (LOA) issued by NOAA, these are the animals they may now kill, along with their alleged offenses:
Read the rest of this entry »
Yesterday ODFW killed Freddy, a sea lion who was given his name by a 5th grader of Trillium school. He was seen eating six fish at the dam, a crime for which he has been killed for.
Mayor Don Stevens of North Bonneville met with three sea lion defenders this week to discuss the issue of the hazing and killing of sea lions near his idyllic town on the Columbia. It was very refreshing to talk with someone who actually understands the ecosystem in which we all live well enough to know that killing sea lions is no way to save salmon.
North Bonneville is a town on the front lines. Surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery on the face of the earth, it sits perched among emerald, cloud-capped peaks, and spans the banks of the Columbia from just north of the Bonneville dam to the rich wetlands and verdant hills to the South of the dam. The streams surrounding North Bonneville teem with native salmon, and the town has prided itself on restoring habitat and improving stream beds to bring those salmon back. Clearly, these are people who care about salmon and about the Columbia river ecosystem. In spite of the misinformation being perpetuated by ODFW, claiming that we must choose between the salmon and the sea lions, the people of North Bonneville understand that both species belong on this river, both species co-evolved here, and the sea lions are not a problem to the survival of the salmon as a species.
Read the rest of this entry »