Legislation that allows the lethal taking of sea lions that prey on at-risk fish populations on the Columbia River and select tributaries in Washington, Oregon and Idaho has been signed into law by President Donald Trump.
The bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., makes slight changes to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, which lays out prohibitions for killing marine mammals, and institutes a permit process for the lethal taking of sea lions. Permit holders are legally allowed to kill sea lions that are part of a population that is not classified as being depleted or at risk.
The permits are good for up to five years, can be renewed and set the total number of seal lions to be killed annually under all issued permits at no more than 10 percent of the annual potential biological removal of the animals. The legislation requires the taking of the sea lions be humane and the “primary euthanasia be limited to chemical methods.”
For a sea lion to be eligible for lethal removal, the animal must have been previously captured and branded by a fishery, have been observed for at least five days on the river and must have been subjected to hazing techniques and been observed eating a salmon or steelhead. (Seattle Times)
