Congress approves bill allowing the killing of sea lions... to protect salmon
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
PORTLAND, Ore. — Congress has agreed to make it easier to kill sea lions threatening fragile runs of salmon in the Northwest.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that a bill approved by the House Tuesday changes the Marine Mammal Protection Act to lift some of the restrictions on killing sea lions to protect salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River and its tributaries. The measure had previously passed the Senate.
Wildlife managers say sea lion populations have grown so large that they no longer need all the protections that were put in place for them in 1972.
The measure would usher in a more streamlined process for Washington, Idaho, Oregon and several Pacific Northwest tribes to capture and euthanize sea lions. Sea lions deemed to be a problem are captured and euthanized.
A sea lion eats salmon in the Columbia River near Bonneville, Washington, in 2008. Don Ryan / AP file Supporters, including the governors of Oregon, Washington and Idaho, fishing groups and tribes, have said the bill will give wildlife managers greater flexibility in controlling California sea lions that dramatically increased from about 30,000 in the 1960s to about 300,000 following enactment of the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Jaime Pinkham, executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, said in a statement that he was "grateful Congress worked in a bipartisan manner to give us the local flexibility to protect the tribal treaty resources we share with others in the Columbia and Willamette rivers."
Critics called the move by Congress ill-conceived and say it will not solve the problem of declining salmon, which also face other problems such as habitat loss and dams.
While there are several thousand California sea lions in the Columbia River estuary, only about 200 to 300 swim more than 100 miles upriver from the Pacific Ocean and would be eligible for removal, state wildlife officials say.
An orca task force convened by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, also backed the legislation to boost the fish for the struggling population of southern resident killer whales.
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Breaks my heart to know that they are going to kill these animals so that someone can make money. Why not neuter some and let the rest live out their lives?
Thoughts?
Interesting that the righties are suddenly concerned about the salmon mere minutes after deciding that it's OK to pollute their spawning habitats. I think they just want to play with their guns.
"Supporters, including the governors of Oregon, Washington and Idaho"
Two Democrats and one Republican.
This is just a "Rightie" thingy ……. AGAIN ?
I'd rather be clubbed
like a baby
harp
sealed with my approval
than
Neutered
but
that's just me
ore
the irony, of, one of the other voices, echoing
round, my hollow cranium, where my I didn't mind,
as
cannaballs need to feed their families as well,
without making a big splash,
or
taking a dive, unless it flops,
on its face,
value the species on the planet, cause I was gonna say our planet, and not meant for only the species that attempt to read what's red, because WE, do NOT OWN, THIS PLANET
greed, driving idiots to deny science, and definitely damage THE EARTH
NOT,
our earth,
as it belongs to all creatures that exist,
not the STUPIDEST,
n I'm not referring to Ghorrila's
in sum sort of Trump dislike orange mist.
The point not being blunt for those not sharp enough to see how
FAR we have fallen, in such a short chronological increment
damn ssick of my moniker constantly bean proven, while pols string
US Along, dancing, and doing laps, as pole dancing ones
lap dance around like Donny Trump is in town
N
HE'S GOING DOWN
like an aging Asian hooker to China Town, taking Jared and Subweigh or other, Ivanka, n her multipull other brother s
till White House is Barron
Man's attempts to "manage" nature are often a fools errand.
We introduce Salmon into the Great Lakes to manage an Alewive overpopulation problem, they eat all the Alewives and then start negatively affecting the rest of the indigenous fishery.
We protect Wolves as an endangered species until they grow in population so much they decimate deer populations, etc, etc.
Sometimes there is no 100% "correct" answer. This sounds like one of those situations.
Humans have completely demolished the natural equilibriums that were once found between prey and predator. Now humans must create an artificial equilibrium, as best they can.
Here we have sea lions, elsewhere wolves, badgers, coyotes, bears...
Gee... we need... experts...
kill them off, let them grow back, kill them again.