Killing of Columbia River Sea Lions Gets Nod from Federal Agency

Here’s something else for the dam and power resource planners to ponder: Dams on rivers important to wild salmon reproduction also create feeding zones where predators can pile up and decimate the fish. So if the National Marine Fisheries Service believes that killing a protected species is the best way to aid dam-challenged salmon (mind you these are the same folks who brought us “Hatchery Fish = Wild Fish” in recent years), then I suppose we should let them have their way, given the fact that salmon are essential to the survival of many, many other species. “A federal agency recommended killing about 30 sea lions a year at a Columbia River dam where the marine animals feast on salmon migrating upriver to spawn. By many estimates, the sea lions devour about 4 percent of spring runs. Fishermen and Columbia River tribes have urged action for years against the sea lions at Bonneville Dam.” Joseph Frazier of the Associated Press. (Thanks to reader David Dalu for this link.)