PORTLAND, Ore. -- State wildlife officials say killing sea lions is the only way to save endangered steelhead in the Willamette River.
Oregon Congressman Kurt Schrader is pushing a bill that would allow that to happen. His district director and state officials toured Willamette Falls on Tuesday to see the problem firsthand.
At the base of the fish ladders, where fish often get backed up, we did find several sea lions. One of them was eating a fish.
According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, there are over two dozen California Sea Lions preying on fish in that area.
Wildlife officials are concerned about the endangered steelhead. They estimate sea lions ate 20 percent of the run this year.
"When you add sea lions in and they are going to keep eating 20 to 25 percent of the adult return, the extinction rate goes up to 90 percent for any one population," said Shaun Clements with ODFW.
Ask anglers out on the Willamette River, and they will also tell you sea lions are a problem.
"They've taken plenty of my fish, it's frustrating," said Tim Spring. Spring has fished the Willamette for 20 years.
Earlier this year ODFW did try trapping and relocating the sea lions to the coast some 200 miles away. But the animals returned in just a matter of days.
"No one has come up with a non-lethal method that actually works yet," said Clements.
Travis Williams, Executive Director of Willamette Riverkeeper, understands the frustration.
"I get it," he said.
But he also doesn't believe the relatively small number of sea lions at the falls is solely to blame for the low steelhead runs. He said the problem is also the result of dams and inadequate fish passages. Habitat destruction and poor water quality, he believes, have also been impacting the fish population for decades.
"I would urge people like Congressman Schrader and others who care about this issue to be talking about how to make our river systems function more naturally, how do we make it so that those fish can produce on their own," he said.
Williams said killing sea lions may be one solution, but it is not the only solution.
But ODFW maintains it is the only way, at this point, to save the endangered fish.
If the agency gets the permit to do so, it would trap and euthanize all of the sea lions at Willamette Falls. But after that, officials would likely kill only one or two sea lions every five years. It's hoping to get that permit this year.
If it does, the trapping would begin as early as January.