Without intervention, Columbia River salmon are facing extinction from hungry sea lions.
“If we can do this, we can give these fish a chance,” said Guido Rahr, president and CEO of the Wild Salmon Center.
What Rahr refers to is a bill co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., that would allow tribes to kill sea lions in the river in an effort to protect the endangered salmon population. The bill passed a hurdle Thursday and is heading to the Senate floor for a vote. Cantwell stopped by the Columbia Springs Environmental Education Center in Vancouver on Friday to both promote her bill and give invested parties a chance to share why stopping sea lion predation is not only necessary but vital for the local community.
On the Columbia River, 45 percent of the salmon run has been eaten by nearly 200 sea lions that traveled nearly 150 miles upriver to Bonneville Dam, Cantwell said. On the Willamette River, more than 40 sea lions have taken up residence near Willamette Falls, where they have eaten about 25 percent of the salmon population.
Jeff Breckel, former executive director of the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board, explained that saving the endangered salmon population requires action on multiple fronts.
Money is already funneled toward fish ladders, hatcheries and limiting the number of salmon caught by fisherman, Breckel said, but management of sea lions is still relatively limited.
“It’s important to realize this action … is an important contributor to getting this done,” he said.
Cantwell added that her legislation is just one piece of a larger effort.
“We have to have all the tools we need to meet this challenge,” she said.
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, has sponsored a companion bill that passed in the House last month.
Where the two bills differ are regulations relating to how tribes kill predatory sea lions. Herrera Beutler’s bill states that permits issued to tribes are exempt for five years from environmental review requirements outlined in the National Environmental Policy Act. After that period, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration can suspend the permits if killing sea lions is no longer deemed necessary to protect salmon runs. The nearly identical bill from Cantwell does not include this exemption.
“We will undertake that responsibility in a responsible and humane manner,” said Virgil Lewis, senior vice chairman of the Yakama Nation Tribal Council.
Ron Suppah, tribal council member for the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, cautioned that time is of the essence and asked that action come sooner rather than later. Cantwell said she’s hopeful that her peers in the Senate will pass the bipartisan legislation and send it back to the House. She’s spending the next week gathering additional support and documentation of the issue before heading back to the Senate floor.
“As we see the changes in our environment, we have to make decisions that will help us manage our best resources,” Cantwell said. “That is what we aim to do today based on good science.”
