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.
I just checked the TV listings, and this comes on Headline News at 4pm Pacific Time. It’s channel 45.
The transcript of tonight’s show is now up on Jane’s page (the video clip will be placed there on her main page, http://cnn.com/Jane , sometime after Monday June 7th; look for the video clip of the segment under the section on the right side of that page labeled MAN VS. NATURE):
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1006/04/ijvm.01.html
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I agree with you 100 percent.
Those who are saying this is terrible and crying their eyes out, but they`re — they are using these plastic bottles that are petroleum- based and they`re gas guzzlers and they are not thinking about how they conduct their lives, they`re really part of the problem.
This is a consumer issue at the end of the day Lisa, all of us making more compassionate, more thoughtful decisions about everything we do throughout the course of our day can make these BPs irrelevant. But it takes willpower and it takes waking up.
And we`ve got to leave it right there, but I want to thank you, Lisa.
You won`t believe this story we`ve got next. It`s a brigade to save sea lions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: In tonight`s “Spotlight”, the courageous fight to save the sea lions. Sea lions are being systematically executed by government wildlife officials in Oregon and Washington. The sea lions` crime: doing what they`re meant to do, eat salmon.
Now, a bunch of caring people have formed a sea lion defense brigade, which patrols the Columbia River, trying to keep the sea lions alive. They`re battling a very misguided government effort to supposedly protect the Chinook salmon as they swim up river to spawn.
Straight out to my special guest Matt Rossell, the northwest director of In Defense of Animals.
Matt, I`m horrified by this. How many sea lions have died so far and what are you doing to try to save them?
MATT ROSSELL, IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS: Well, it`s absolutely outrageous, Jane. They are — these wildlife agencies are actually killing these sea lions, which are native wildlife for simply eating, as you said. They`ve killed dozens of them already. They`re in the third year of this program.
And the sea lions are actually being scapegoated. They are not the problem with salmon recovery. In fact, it`s a human-based problem, as we all know. It`s the dams, it`s the over-fishing, it`s the habitat destruction and the fish, the non-native fish that fishermen have introduced which are killing the salmon.
So, what we`re doing about it? There`s two active lawsuits. We`re actually challenging the federal government on their authority, because they are a protected species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
We`re also filing a lawsuit, an active lawsuit on the state level to —
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But tell me about the brigade.
ROSSELL: The brigade —
VELEZ-MITCHELL: There are caring people who have come together. I`ve seen their truck. They stand guard.
ROSSELL: Yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tell me about that.
ROSSELL: In Defense of Animals and Sea Lion Defense Brigade are out there all the time, 24/7, while these sea lions are being trapped. Watching, monitoring and actually documenting the killing of sea lions so that we can report back to the public about what`s really happening.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, it`s so easy to get attached to these beautiful sea lions that just want to live out their lives on the Columbia River. What crime have they committed? None. They`ve got to eat.
One defense brigade member blogged about two sea lions in particular. Here they are, saying hey there, old friend. Look at these two. They`ve lived on the river for years and I guess they must have eaten some salmon in the process because they came out of the water to bask in the sunlight last year and that was it for them. They were trapped and killed.
Matt, this is Uncle Sam — I mean, this is tax dollars that are going to killing these sea lions. And everywhere I turn around, we are rounding up wild horses, using tax dollars. Look at the disaster in the gulf. Now this.
What is wrong with our government? It seems like our government is killing more animals than almost anyone else.
ROSSELL: Well, this isn`t based on science. This is politics. And the fishermen are angry. The fish are gone and they want to blame the sea lions. The gill netters this year killed more salmon in 18 hours than these sea lions were observed eating the whole season.
The sea lions are eating a very small percentage of the fish, and in fact, they`re just living, as you said. Every year since this program has started, the fishing quotas have gone up, and that`s —
It`s a mess.
We`re out of time, but I want to tell you, get involved, people. You know, contact the organizations. You see it right there. Join the Sea Lion Brigade from your home to save those creatures and let our government know we don`t want to be using tax dollars to kill animals.
You`re watching ISSUES.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
video clip of the interview is now online:
go to
http://tinyurl.com/2c94st4
which redirects to
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/06/04/jvm.saving.sea.lions.cnn
Just watched the video. So outrageous that tax dollars are killing innocent animals. Thank you for documenting.
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2010/06/04/ac.rig.explosion.survivors.cnn#
I am outraged about the sea lions. i want to do something to help these poor defenseless animals.
what can I do?
This horrible! What can I do to help stop this slaughter of these beautiful creatues?
just saw the report on cln about the two sea lion friends that were trapped and killed i am sick to my stomach.are these people a bunch of sickoes?i am seriosly afraid to live on the same planet with people of this mentality.they should be trapped and killed!!!!!!!i hope my tax money isnt funding this f@@## bullsh*#@!!
To the fishermen suspected of killing the caged sea lions: I, along with many other people in the Pacific Northwest, have stopped eating any kind of fish.
To the other people who have also killed sea lions: you should NOT have killed ANY sea lions. You are horrible people, and I don’t know how you live with yourselves. You should be prosecuted. I hope you have horrible lives yourselves, from here on out, for what you have done. Remember: what goes around, comes around.