BONNEVILLE, Wash. -- After just a month of hazing California sea lions on the Willamette River, Oregon House Speaker Dave Hunt said he wants the state to trap and kill the animals before they can eat more salmon.
At a public forum Monday in Oregon City, Hunt spoke with irate fishermen who said they were tired of watching sea lions grab salmon right off their lines.
"They're out of control. They've been out of control for some time. Next year they're going to be twice as out of control as this year because they're going to bring all their boys with them," said fisherman Roland Steiner.
Hunt said the sea lions were harming the re-population of the river's endangered salmon, but he was also advocating for a large and very vocal sport fishing community who wanted to see the sea lions removed from the water near Willamette Falls.
"We know what works. We know what's going to protect sport fishing. We just need to take lethal means against these sea lions," said Speaker Hunt.
According to ODFW statistics, over the last six and a half years the river has seen a dramatic rise in feasts at the falls. In 2003, just 58 fish were seen in the mouths of sea lions. In 2009 that number had climbed all the way to 167. Already this year, Portland State University observers have witnessed 282 fish taken by sea lions.
Hunt's public forum provided fishermen with a chance to endorse his trap and kill plan, but a small group of objectors was ready to advocate for the animals.
"It was said that very likely this lethal removal plan was only going to create a vacuum where new sea lions come and take the place of sea lions that get removed. That's exactly what's happening," said Matt Rossell of In Defense of Animals.
Many fish advocates said they feel the problem is over-fishing. Instead of killing the sea lions, they endorse moving them or luring them to new areas. Rossell, said the presence of sea lions is not harmful, but a sign of the river's health.
In fact Nannette Jones, an animal advocate who spoke Monday, believes the sea lions were needed in the river. They eat invasive, non-native fish species that threaten the future of the salmon population. "They're doing you a favor," said Jones.
If Speaker Hunt hopes to trap and kill the Willamette River sea lions, he'll need to secure federal approval for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Sea lions are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Just as is the case near the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia, if ODFW intends to trap and kill the animals they must first seek a section 120 exemption to the MMPA.
