They need to stiffen the penalty!!!!! I too hope the fisherman get caught!

If there is any culling to be done, it ought to be left solely to the Feds or their designated local authority. That said, these sea lions are sneaky - especially the ones that hang around the fish passes built into many of our control structures - so it's not as if these animals were searching for their food 'in the wild' as it were.

I hope they catch the SOBs responsible for this. It is one thing for the federal government to cull the population in a controlled way, it is something else entirely for fisherman to just start shooting sea lions because they are eating salmon, which is part of their natural diet. They need to make sure that the penalties for this action are stiff to send a message to others that might consider doing this that it is not acceptable.

I grew up in Seattle and have watched all this. Sea lions are responsible for the decimation of steelhead and salmon runs in all the west coast rivers. They are killing the migration runs. Many rivers are dead. There is no easy solution. Moving them doesn't work, they just come back. In Seattle they have tried every non-lethal means to get them to go. They won't go. Free food. So what to do...5-10 sea lions or a whole river migration of steelhead and salmon. The reason this is an issue is because we dam and otherwise restrict the water flow. Dams and locks. So choose. 1 sea lion or thousands of salmon and steelhead and dead rivers.

Personally I would kill all the sea lions at the Ballard locks and along the Columbia River. Happily.

Denver Bill 2, great comment. Since you are landlocked and an obvious moron, why even bother to comment?

Sea lions fished these waters long before we did. It wasn't them who killed off the steelhead and salmon runs. You can pin that squarely on human beings and our ravenous appetites for food, land, waterways, development, and energy. And to the fishermen, behavior such as this is why I only buy Atlantic salmon now.

or we could just start shooting them back.

mollly knows how to push people's buttons. it's called a cry for attention...

Robbie, you are absolutely right. The people supporting the killing of the innocent animals need to look in the mirror at the real cause - us HUMANS! I too only buy Atlantic Salmon. Again, make the penalty stiffer and offer reward for information leading to an arrest.

Maybe they should set up video cameras near the sea lion habitats. And/or maybe arm groups to protect the sea lions.

time to lift pinniped protection. they've recovered enough

Since the 1970's for the first time in approximately ten thousand years the marine mammals have no predators. Prior to the arrival of people of European descent the western coast of North America was very heavily populated by native americans who harvested the marine mammals in a big way for trade with inland tribes as far away as present day Montana. When the English explorer Kensington arrived in Nootka Sound for the first time in the late 1700's he found vast stores of furs held for trade with the inland tribes. Abandoning his exploration, he immediately loaded up his ship with pelts and headed for China where his subsiquent sale of the cargo made him extremely wealthy.

But now this balance is off. The marine mammels are protected and the greatly increased population has eaten its way through most existing food supply. Many are now starving or nearly so.

Do a little research and find out the facts. It won't hurt you.

@sjj4444 - I think you are exaggerating a little. The estimates are that the sea lions are only eating between 1.5 and 4% of the total salmon run. I would hardly call this decimating a run and certainly is not enough to cause a river to be devoid of salmon. Even with this limited impact, the feds have authorized a culling of the sea lions that hang out by the fish ladders to reduce their impact on the run. The small impact they are having, which by the way was caused by man building the dams and fish ladders to start with, does not justify the indiscriminate killing of sea lions. The feds are dealing with the culling of the sea lions that hang out by the fish ladders in a controlled way, as it should be. Those who are taking things into their own hands and just randomly shooting sea lions are wrong and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

YEA!! Kill em all!! Hope they kill every last one of them! They do NOT belong up the rivers eating salmon while the salmon are spawning....or any other time. They are named SEA lions....NOT RIVER lions.

Good for the fisherman and maybe the stupid tree hugging 'protectors of animals that should be put down' will shut up and go put their time to a useful purpose.

@JS in SD

Your assertation of dams being responsible for the decimation of salmon runs doesn't hold up well under close scrutiny. You see... the last of the dams were finished in the early 1950's yet we continued to experience ever growing and record setting runs of salmon until around 1974, just a very few years after the bounty on seals and sea lions was lifted in, if I remember correctly, 1968.

As a professional mariner (Not a fisherman. Merchant Marine.) I was able to personally able to witness the rapid and profound increase that took place thereafter in the marine mammal population. As much as I have enjoyed watching these animals at play over the years I now feel sorry for them. From what I understand they've pretty much wiped out their food supply in many areas. Bottom fish as well as salmon and bottom fish do not traverse dams. There have been reports of starvation among some of the herds.

I'm afraid I have no solutions to offer to this growing problem. Salmon has long been dismissed from my everyday menu so personally their disappearance will have little or no effect on me. I am, though, quite concerned about fish in general being gone from the overall world food supply.

Any suggestions?

@Wizard - You may be a professional mariner, although probably not a Coast Guard licensed mariner as I was based on your reading comprehension skills, it does not make you an expert on salmon or sea lions. I also did not say that the dams were responsible for decimating the salmon population, I said that the dams were responsible for the sea lions' behavior of waiting by the dams to scoop up the salmon. Without the dams and the fish ladders they necessitated, the sea lions would not have this place to sit where the salmon are so vulnerable. So even if I went along with your assertion that the salmon population was down significantly because of this behavior by the sea lions, then it would be man's fault since man put in the dams and fish ladders to start with. You need to make up your mind. Either the sea lions sitting by the fish ladders and scooping up the salmon is causing the significant salmon population drop, in which case man is ultimately the one at fault, or this behavior on the part of the sea lions has nothing to do with the population drop and thus your initial premise that this is what wiped out the salmon in some rivers is false. You simply can not have it both ways!!!

Also, to say that since the 1970s sea lions have had no predators makes me seriously question that you have ever been a mariner or had anything to do with the sea. Anyone who has ever been around sea lions and the ocean knows that sharks are a major predator of sea lions and kill a large number of them every year. In fact, sea lion is a shark's favorite food. Living in Southern CA I have personally witnessed sharks taking sea lions on more than one occasion. It is in fact because divers and surfers in black wet suits resemble sea lions so much that they are sometimes attacked by sharks. Also, for the record, native tribes are still allowed under federal law to hunt sea lions and they most certainly still do. The only thing that was stopped by the marine mammal protection act was the indiscriminate killing of the sea lions and other marine mammals by fisherman.

@JS in SD

Merchant Marine. Ocean Steam and Motor Vessels. Unlimited tonnage. Retired. I now write books, so I guess my reading comprehension probably isn't too bad. Now then. Having cleared up those little details let us proceed. It was not my intent to disagree with your contention, although you failed to make your point concerning the fish ladders concisely in your first posting. In fact, now that you have clarified what you meant I agree with you on that. However, my main interest lay in conveying to other readers that dams themselves may not be a major contributor to the problem of diminishing salmon runs. But as you have noted the placement of the fish ladders indeed can be.

Concerning predators... Most of my observations have taken place in the Pacific Northwest or points to the north. Sharks that would pose a problem to a sea lion are not at all common in these waters. My oversight, I guess. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. Around here the killer whales grab a seal occasionally as well but I didn't feel it makes much of a dent in the population. I guess I should have said very few predators compared to the old days. My bad.

Have a pleasant evening.

I grew up on the Central Oregon Coast in the 50's and 60's. I was never a Salmon fisherman but some of my friends and also some of my teachers were. They would shoot sea lions every time they saw one, how many times did they pull half a Salmon from their gear, Salmon bit in half by the sea lions. Some of the big King Salmon or Chinooks were worth several hundred dollars whole. There were so many Sea lions it was ridiculous. Now the Sea Lions are protected some of the Salmon runs are in danger of collapse. Of course the fishermen are shooting them now, shoot them or go broke!! Sea Lions are big smelly animals they are everywhere, they are also at the top of the food chain, except for the Orcas. The Orcas used to come into the bay at Newport, herd the Sea Lions up near the beach, and eat them. The thing is there are many, many Sea Lions, and not so much Salmon anymore!!

Has anyone come up with the figures on radiation readings from the bodies?

Note to Barlow...In Michigan, kings and Chinooks cost the price of a license... $25. and they contain no radiation . In the market they cost 12.99 a pound, dressed out.

Sandra (#1.11) Atlantic salmon are all pen raised. They are less likely to be eaten by sea lions (even if they were wild there is no predation of them by Atlantic sea lions since there are none to speak of). Wild caught salmon are better for you. Pen raised salmon do not contain the omega 3s that wild caught do. There was a recent program on Pacific salmon that really showed how delicate the balance for them is. We have dammed all the rivers in the Pacific northwest and the salmon are being raised with certain traits being selected out (genetic engineering). The salmon are actually shipped in large tanks part of the way down rivers or they would be way less likely to survive in the first place. This affects the salmon stock, possibly very adversely. As much fun as it is to watch sea lions, they are predators and in this case some of them are literally being spoon-fed. That should not happen and it is just another example of government intervention in excess. They have to be discouraged or killed off and I would favor discouraged, but the alternative (killing) may be the only choice. A lot of this would have never happened if we had not dammed up all the rivers in the Northwest in the first place, but then electricity would have been way more expensive.

Jack, I appreciate the nutritional information on salmon and it is duly noted. I am still 150% against us HUMANS killing the Sea Lions. I know all about the Orcas and in general wild life, as I am an avid studier and follower of the animal kingdom.

I win. I buy Icelandic salmon farm-raised on shrimp, no heavy mercury toxicity, so this allows the wild salmon to feed the sea life.

Paranoid much? Better not sleep Cooley, the sea lions will get you.

Way to be tough, threatening sea lions over the Internet.

@Mason-2426540

That was a bit much.

Oh come on that was funny as hell. We do not need salmon to live. The sea lions do.

OMG, I see school is out. Mason, please get some help for your issues

Robbie- you are half right. In the natural order of things sea lions eat fish. We have damed and otherwise restricted water flow so it has become a true extinction issue. What to do? Doing nothing is a decision.

But hey. Lets talk about Molly some more. It beats dealing with the reality.

Ok so now why can"t we eat the sea lions again? If we were to control them by shooting them and then eating them or feeding them to the homeless would that not be ok? I mean it is not like they are an endangered specie right?

Despite what some people would like to think, sea lions are not an endangered species.

When I worked in Antarctica we would go to these old outposts and find cut up seal and sea lion meat still frozen. I can't remember if the early explorers eat the meat themselves, but they certainly would feed it to their sled dogs.

Very well said Thomas.

You are right Thomas we should all eat what we kill. It might make people think twice when they have a few to many and get behind the wheel or cap some home boy.

You are right, AP,so right, the planet is busting at the seams with humans that cannot be supported without getting rid of millions of species. We want to consume all the resouces no matter what the cost down the road, which in turn will cause our eventual extinction. Long live sea lions, long live salmon, like that will happen. We no longer have any natural controls over our population growth, but it will come some day. Unfortunately, not until we have pretty much finished Earth off. Then it will evolve again.

It has been proven that when an animal is a resource and benefits man it will be saved. Look at the white tail population which was almost extinct. Hunters wanted deer and protected them and brought them back. Hunters have benefited most species of animals when it is controlled. The Government never saved anything it has always been the hunters money used by providing the funding for wild life officers. And I imagine the fishing and hunting licensees pay for these hatcheries not your tax dollar.

These numbers of fish are so small that a fraction taken can collapse them in short order. They are making sound decisions in killing x # of lions. Killing them illegally is WRONG. Just saying maybe they could control these over populations if their was a market for them. Nothing wrong with that. I am sure if their fat made an excellent anti wrinkle cream we would not be having this discussion.

Hey math genius, sea lions are indigenous to that area. Many of the animals you are listing are vermin or non-indigenous.

Mexifornia? Really? Do the whites out there need Viagra to keep up?

Yes it's called natural migration and happens with species all over the world. Species follow their food and water sources, and give birth where conditions are ideal (or, WERE ideal until humans f'ed it up).

I have to wonder where people put there priorities. Do sea lions have more of a right to life than a fish? While nobody can argue that the problem is caused by us we still have to deal with it. 1 sea lion at a dam or lock, thousands of salmon and steelhead a season. 20-35 sea lions at a dam or lock, extinction of salmon and steelhead runs in rivers and river systems. Fish runs that have existed for thousands of years. Are sea lions cuter than steelhead? Yes. Is it our fault? Yes. Have we tried every non-lethal means to disperse the sea lions? Yes. So what do we do?

Try taking a biology course so you can re-learn the natural food chain. All of life is on it and our food is affected by it too.

Go back to school, study, learn biology, botany, marine science, ecology. history, etc. You will see that actually the entire planet would be better off wihtout one particular species, and you know what that is. The entire system will flourish without us, but we cannot live without nature. Does that give you an inkling?

Hoxie, are you talking about taking yourself out? Don't do it.

And the biology course stuff doesn't answer my question, nor does it hold water. Many species have been taken out of the food chain and we're all still here. I call that natural selection, whether influenced by humans or not. Some species actually thrive in urban areas, created by humans. Some weaker species apparently can't coexist. They go away and we're still here. Any species we actually need for our survival seems to be doing ok. And I don't buy in to a domino effect theory - just haven't seen any evidence of it.

I have to wonder where people put there priorities. Do sea lions have more of a right to life than a fish? While nobody can argue that the problem is caused by us we still have to deal with it. 1 sea lion at a dam or lock, thousands of salmon and steelhead a season. 20-35 sea lions at a dam or lock, extinction of salmon and steelhead runs in rivers and river systems. Fish runs that have existed for thousands of years. Are sea lions cuter than steelhead? Yes. Is it our fault? Yes. Have we tried every non-lethal means to disperse the sea lions? Yes. So what do we do?

They're bring to the table more than your ilk. But you won't know that since they're dead.

It's called a trophic cascade, with sea lions as one of the top level predators exerting a top down control over the ecosystems they inhabit. One of the major ecosystems in which sea lions are extremely important is the kelp forest. When removed, another of their food sources overpopulates, namely the sea urchin. The sea urchins then decimate the kelp itself and the entire ecosystem crashes leaving nothing but an urchin barren.

The kelp forest is an extremely important habitat for many species which we as humans exploit for food (not just salmon) so we should have an interest in protecting one of the major control mechanisms for maintaining its health, the sea lion.

Oh, and as someone who teaches this stuff, yes you COULD have learned all about it in a high school biology course, obviously YOU didn't.

They eat 1 - 4% of the salmon. Are you f'ing kidding me?!!!

Then punish any humans catching or eating them and how about get rid of the dams and the pollution caused by guess who, the biggest reason they are dwindling.

Codger, most of the posters posting here don't live in the PNW area, so they don't know what exactly is going on. Yes, the sea lions are very over populated, and being by Bonniville Dam, which is over 250 miles from the ocean, they damn well should be removed. They do not have to be killed, but they do need to be relocated away from the dam.

And yes, the tree huggers, etc are all up in arms about this. Gee just think of all the steaks one could possibly get from one sea lion. It most likely would just taste like another fish, and the meat would not go to waste.

SallyAnn - relocation has been done especially with the sea lions eating salmon in front of the Ballard locks. However, since they're typically tagged, the wildlife bios found out that after being relocated to California, the same sea lions returned to the locks. I believe the one that was named Herschel was back in a few weeks. The seal lions and harbor seals eat more than salmon and steelhead. The population of hake, a good food source for other species of fish, has declined 98% in Puget Sound and it is because the seals and sea lions have eaten them. Harbor seals only eat about 5 lbs of fish a day but sea lions will eat up to 50 lbs of fish a day.

So why are we not eating them?

Codger, SalyAnn,

Isn't funny that people who have know knowledge of the problem have such views?

Just"know" your "noledge."

How many abortions do women have Sheila? Or is that different? And whose to say a man shot these things? I've met some pretty tough gals from the northwest who wouldn't have a problem taking out a sea lion.

Get a sex education and you might understand the necessity for abortion. Or perhaps not.

I agree - let's just kill it all off!

Rock on SallyAnn!

What garbage! Mary Cooley and others posting here are much more aggressive and less valuable or appealing (in my view) than the sea lions, so why don't I have the right to shoot them, if that's the criteria?

Geeez....chill out SkyLark. Here's an idea for you - why don't you infiltrate the sea lion herd so you can see first hand who's doing the shooting. You could be famous!! Make sure to dress up as a sea lion so as not to arouse suspicion.