WASHINGTON (June 14, 2011) — The Humane Society of the United States Tuesday asked a House subcommittee to reject legislation that would speed the process for approval of the killing of sea lions.
Sharon Young, HSUS marine issues field director, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife Oceans and Insular Affairs on the bill, which is a misguided effort to protect threatened salmon along the west coast. She noted that predation by sea lions is among the least of the problems facing salmon in the Columbia River basin, and thus should be among the lowest priorities when taking action to assist recovery. The federal government authorizes fisheries to take more than four times the amount of salmon that sea lions consume, and fisheries have exceeded their allowance during two of the last three years. The salmon are also forced to compete with hatchery spawned fish and non-native introduced fish for resources, and predation on juvenile salmon by stocked non-native bass and walleye is a serious threat that the government has not yet addressed at all.
"Expediting the approval of killing sea lions will not speed recovery of salmon stocks," Young said. "The federal government has yet to adequately address the real factors delaying recovery of salmon stocks – fisheries harvest, hydropower operations, hatcheries, and habitat loss. H.R. 946 will undermine long-standing and important environmental legislation and lead to a form of vigilante response not seen since the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972."
Facts
· Currently, federal law only allows the National Marine Fisheries Service to authorize the killing of sea lions when it is clear that they are having a significant negative impact on the decline or recovery of salmon stocks.
· Last year, the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit struck down an attempt by NMFS to authorize the killing of as many as 85 sea lions per year at the Bonneville Dam, because the agency could not explain why killing sea lions, who eat at most four percent of adult salmon and steelhead runs, is appropriate in light of the agency's previous conclusions that fishermen taking as much as 17 percent of the same fish will only have a "minimal impact" on the fish.
· In May 2011, NMFS again authorized the killing of sea lions at the Bonneville Dam, and The HSUS and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit challenging that this authorization is similarly flawed and unlawful. Shortly after this lawsuit was filed, The HSUS reached an agreement with the states of Oregon and Washington and NMFS to suspend plans to kill as many as 85 sea lions at the Bonneville Dam this year. The agreement is temporary, but means that no sea lions may be killed before The HSUS' lawsuit challenging the program can be heard by the court.
Website: www.humanesociety.org
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