Farewell depicts the struggle between the sea lions and the fishing industry. It also shares the pain and frustration of animal advocates who struggled so hard to stop the killing before it started, while apathy, ignorance, and greed led inexorably to the deaths of more than a dozen of these beloved animals last year. This is a remembrance of the animals who have died, and a call to arms to those who have not yet risen out of apathy to take a stand. The spring is coming, and we need to stand with the sea lions.
Archive for November, 2009
Sea Lion Video Available Online
Friday, November 6th, 2009Appeal Heard Today in Portland
Friday, November 6th, 2009Today, 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.