CA Seals and Sealions eating all of WA Springers?

Tom Butler · Apr 18, 2023

What a mess. It sounds like if they stay for each run, then after spring salmon, the shad, steelhead and fall run salmon. Doesn't sound like there is much reason to leave, and a lot of fish will be consumed. I'm just reading along. No good ideas really. Could any kind of tribal and/or permitted hunt maybe make it uncomfortable enough for them to not hang around? These wildlife issues just seem overwhelming, like everything else, any more.

Mossback · Apr 18, 2023

Unsurprisingly, there is no simple solution.

jasmillo · Apr 18, 2023

Evan B said:
As fun as the relcoation idea sounds, they've relocated sea lions as far away as California and they still find their way back to the Columbia pretty quickly.

Exactly why culling won’t work either. Unless we cull to the point that led to the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the first place.

I love fish and fishing as much as anyone on this forum but the culling needed to actually make a long term impact is not something I would support. There needs to be a different solution.

nwbobber · Apr 18, 2023

The sea lions in the Columbia are all males. We could cull to our hearts content without affecting the species future. It is a choice between species, and as was stated earlier, fish just aren't as cute as a brown eyed mammal.

Rob Allen · Apr 18, 2023

Evan B said:
WDFW and ODFW have actually wanted to do something for a while. Thing is they literally can't.

I say they should do something terminal and take the legal action from the feds.. forgiveness rather than permission.... then do it again next year..

Rob Allen · Apr 18, 2023

JACKspASS said:
Gone the way of the wolf, Bigfoot, and coyote.....lead poisoning, not many left

Coyote population in Idaho is a minimum 52,000 and are common animals in that state.

Russell · Apr 18, 2023

Time to bring back "Fake Willy"

DerekWhipple · Apr 18, 2023

jasmillo said:
Exactly why culling won’t work either. Unless we cull to the point that led to the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the first place.

I love fish and fishing as much as anyone on this forum but the culling needed to actually make a long term impact is not something I would support. There needs to be a different solution.

Wouldn't they notice their friends starting to disappear and decide it's not worth the risk to hang around?

Emily27 · Apr 19, 2023

DerekWhipple said:
Wouldn't they notice their friends starting to disappear and decide it's not worth the risk to hang around?

I feel like they would just notice that they got to sit on their favorite rock more often and that there was less competition for fish.

Rob Allen · Apr 19, 2023

I'll say it.. salmon are more important than sea lions..killem all ( the ones tmin the Columbia)there are plenty of them, who it fake offends doesn't matter.

JayB · Apr 20, 2023

Are sea lions and seals eating too much of B.C.’s salmon? The answer may lead to a cull

Photogenic they may be. But the mammals’ diet may be upsetting the balance of B.C.’s marine ecosystem.

www.thestar.com

Matt Paluch · Apr 20, 2023

So I lobbied Congress to help pass the MMPA exemption that allows WDFW, ODFW, and several tribes to lethally remove sea lions. They are killing sea lions. Social media has exploded with a lot of rumors and outright false information about what is being done. The pinniped problem is real, and additional action may need to be taken, but I'd encourage everyone to keep a level head and not fall victim to the wildly exaggerated information that is being spread around.

Billy · Apr 20, 2023

Matt Paluch said:
So I lobbied Congress to help pass the MMPA exemption that allows WDFW, ODFW, and several tribes to lethally remove sea lions. They are killing sea lions. Social media has exploded with a lot of rumors and outright false information about what is being done. The pinniped problem is real, and additional action may need to be taken, but I'd encourage everyone to keep a level head and not fall victim to the wildly exaggerated information that is being spread around.

well what fun is that Matt?

Matt Paluch · Apr 20, 2023

Billy said:
well what fun is that Matt?

I know. I'm a party pooper. Here's some information that people may find interesting: https://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/Se...Section 120(f) Sea Lion Management Report.pdf

Flymph · Apr 20, 2023

Does killing abundant but protected wildlife to help other, more vulnerable protected wildlife represent good, scientific, and ethical wildlife management, or does it represent an attempt to avoid taking action on more important, but politically difficult, causes of a species’ decline at the expense of the targeted animals?

Matt Paluch · Apr 20, 2023

Flymph said:
Does killing abundant but protected wildlife to help other, more vulnerable protected wildlife represent good, scientific, and ethical wildlife management, or does it represent an attempt to avoid taking action on more important, but politically difficult, causes of a species’ decline at the expense of the targeted animals?

In the case of the sea lions in the Columbia System, there is no population level threat to the species by killing them. Leaving them there does present population level threats to many ESL listed salmon populations. The underlying cause of the sea lions increasingly using the Columbia for feeding grounds is both concentration of prey due to the dams, and climate change shifting their range north. Closer to the equator, populations of sea lions are decreasing.

Rob Allen · Apr 20, 2023

Matt Paluch said:
So I lobbied Congress to help pass the MMPA exemption that allows WDFW, ODFW, and several tribes to lethally remove sea lions. They are killing sea lions. Social media has exploded with a lot of rumors and outright false information about what is being done. The pinniped problem is real, and additional action may need to be taken, but I'd encourage everyone to keep a level head and not fall victim to the wildly exaggerated information that is being spread around.

Getting rid of them is level headed.