Columbia River conservation at loggerheads

By Chester Allen | The Olympian • Published March 02, 2008

Last year, 69 marked sea lions were seen eating salmon at the dam. But not everyone is in favor of killing sea lions to save salmon. Sharon Young, marine issues field director for The Humane Society of the United States, said dams and other human-caused woes kill most of the salmon.

"It is true that there is an abundance of California sea lions, but it is a misrepresentation that they are to blame for what happens to salmon," Young said.

Biologists predict that 269,500 chinook will swim into the Columbia this spring, and that's the third-largest run since 1977. The size of the run is bigger than average, but it is a small fraction of the runs that returned to the Columbia before the dams were built.

The big run proves the sea lions aren't killing too many salmon, Young said.

"This is not really about saving fish," Young said. "It's about the frustration of watching sea lions eat salmon."

Not just this year

Young said killing 30 sea lions will not eliminate the animals near Bonneville Dam. NOAA's draft environmental assessment of the plan to kill sea lions agrees with Young.

"Removing 30 sea lions each year would reduce the numbers of sea lions present at the dam, but there would still be many sea lions in the area each year," the report states.

Hundreds of sea lions swim into the Columbia River every year, Norberg said. And that means killing sea lions would not be a one-time deal. "We are likely to see lethal control on an annual basis for a significant time to come," Norberg said.