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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS
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MONTH: April 2008
Columbia River sea lion removals are delayed by HSUS appeal
PORTLAND, Oregon-- The National Marine Fisheries Service and the Oregon and Washington state governments on April 1, 2008 agreed to postpone killing or capturing California sea lions downstream from the Bonne-ville Dam on the Columbia River, pending a U.S. District Court ruling on a motion for a preliminary injunction against the proposed removals, filed on March 28 by the Humane Society of the U.S."State officials have put out the message to zoos, aquariums and theme parks that they need homes for sea lions," reported Michael Milstein of the Oregonian.
"The first preference is to ship trapped lions to a captive facility," Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife marine mammal program chief Robin Brown told Milstein. "If no one wants the animals after 48 hours, they would then be killed."
Busch Entertainment Corp-oration overseer of zoological operations Brad Andrews told Milstein that Sea World would accept a dozen sea lions. St. Louis Zoo curator Steve Bircher would also take some.
The Oregon and Washing-ton governments, with support from the Idaho state government and Native American tribes, in 2006 asked that up to 85 sea lions per year be killed or removed from the waters below the Bonneville Dam for at least five years, to help the recovery of Columbia River salmon runs.
"The states estimate the sea lions eat up to about 4% of the spring chinook run as it schools at the base of the dam to pass through fish ladders en route to upriver spawning grounds," explained Joseph B. Frazier of Associated Press.
California sea lions, almost extinct in the mid-20th century, now number about 240,000, and are no longer officially endangered or threatened, but are still covered by the Marine Mammals Protection Act of 1972..