Humane society and Wild Fish Conservancy......

[Salmonhawk]

demonstrate once again their disdain for anglers. Why do these people want to give these animals that are no longer endangered all the rights that a human has? Wild Fish Conservancy supposedly wants to "save wild the wild fish" and stop hatchery production but just by the fact that they are co-litigants in this lawsuit, they expose themselves, once again, as people that just don't want other people to fish. You must remember that these people think they are better and smarter than you or I and think they know whats best so they should determine what policies are in place. The fact that they joined this lawsuit with the radical Humane Society of the United States proves that they don't care about saving wild fish. If they did, they would support removal of an overpopulated species that is not native to that area. Remember, sea lions don't check for a clipped adipose fin before they eat a salmon but we conservation minded anglers do.

This article is from the Wall Street Journal and I love the last line from the Yakima representative.

• U.S. NEWS
• MAY 23, 2011
Sea Lions Turn Salmon Run Into Buffet
Feeding Frenzy at Columbia River's Bonneville Dam Becomes Federal Case Weighing the Fate of Two Protected Species
By JOEL MILLMAN
CASCADE LOCKS, Ore.—It's mammal vs. fish in the churning waters of the Columbia River, where California sea lions are pitted against Chinook salmon in a struggle for survival that federal agencies—and now a federal court—must sort out.

A sea lion takes a migrating Chinook salmon just below the spillway at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.
The sea lions are feasting on this area's choicest runs of salmon, steelhead trout and sturgeon, and during the last decade have been taking thousands of fish every spring. The burning issue: should anything be done to keep the enormous beasts from turning Bonneville Dam into a buffet? And, if so, should lethal removal be one of the options?
Trapping and branding—and for persistent predators, euthanasia—of sea lions has been legal along the Columbia River for much of the past decade. A sea lion has to be a documented repeat offender to get on a "kill list," which then only occurs if it swims into a special trap where state wildlife workers can administer a lethal injection.
Sea lions used to be rare this far inland, scientists say. Generally they prey on fish either in the open waters of the Pacific Ocean, or at the mouth of the Columbia. The number of fish taken upriver here has been rising—to nearly 8,000 last year, or almost eight times the 2002 total—out of a annual total migration of about 300,000 Chinook salmon, the main species during the months sea lions arrive.
"They've really become a problem," says Myranda Blodgett, a registered member of the Yakama Nation, one of four native tribes permitted to harvest and market salmon along the river. "And they're so smart. They know where our pools are. They take fish right off our lines."
Scientists say declining numbers of ocean smelt may have forced the sea lions upriver in search of protein. Gangs of breeding-age males arrive here every spring to get fat before the long migration back to southern California, where they'll compete to be the "alpha" males of each pod and mate with dozens of females.
Since 2008, 27 sea lions have been euthanized, and 10 were moved to zoos.
Oregon officials most recently killed a sea lion on the river in September, just prior to a federal court order staying the practice. During the hiatus, biologists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continued to tally the number of sea lions coming to the dam, the type of sea lion—California or Steller—and data on which ones stop to feed, and how many each individually consumes.
This month, state wildlife officials in Oregon and Washington received permission to again trap and kill California sea lions deemed "problem" predators under guidelines elaborated by the Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But Friday, the Humane Society of the U.S. went to court seeking to block lethal removal of sea lions in the Columbia River.
The Humane Society, along with the Wild Fish Conservancy, a co-litigant in Friday's filing, says sea lions have consumed an average of 2.5% of Columbia River salmon in recent years, while at the same time commercial and sport fishermen have taken up to 17% of recent salmon runs.

"Federal law allows the killing of sea lions only in very limited circumstances, when they are having a significant negative impact," said Jonathan Lovvorn, the Humane Society's chief counsel for animal-protection litigation. "The National Marine Fisheries Service's decision to kill hundreds of native marine mammals to reduce salmon losses," while simultaneously authorizing large catches by people "is both outrageous and patently illegal."
"That one looks like C04," says one of the biologists documenting sea lions here, Bjorn Van der Leeuw, as he points to a furry brown mass frolicking in the water. He's referring to the letters on the half-ton California sea lion, dating back to when the beast first swam into a trap and received the branded code on its back. The animal also is identifiable by a circular white scar on its dorsal posterior, says Robert Stansell, another scientist here.
Nicknamed "Obessius" by his staff, Mr. Stansell says C04 is on his second visit to Bonneville. A check of C04's rap sheet reveals he was spotted here last year for seven days, when he took 10 salmon. This season he's been on site for 20 days, and eaten 33 fish, which on average weigh between 15 and 30 pounds.
Compared to C287, C04 is a piker. Branded at the mouth of the Columbia in Astoria nine years ago, C287 is the reigning champ. He didn't swim the 145 miles from the Pacific up to Bonneville until 2005, when he stayed a week and ate just two salmon. Since then he's upped his intake considerably: 50 salmon in 2007, 75 in 2008, 157 in 2009 and 198 in 2010—including 12 in one day last April.
"He's a fish-eating machine," laughs Mr. Van der Leeuw, who marvels at how C287 has staked out a spot beneath one of Bonneville Dam's two powerhouses, yet has avoided capture all these years. In 32 days at the dam this season, C287 was seen to take 115 salmon, and that's just the meals his team has documented during daylight hours on weekdays, Mr. Van der Leeuw says.
The legal stalemate is matched by an ethical one: which species is under a greater threat, sea lion or salmon? Recently, both the fish and the marine mammals seemed on the verge of extinction. Today both seem on their way to recovery.

In the case of California sea lions, considered endangered when Congress passed the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, the species' numbers have increased substantially—to an estimated 265,000 along the West Coast.
NOAA now authorizes lethal removal only of California sea lions, although lately the larger, less numerous Steller species appears to be eating much more Columbia River fish.
With salmon stocks recovering, many environmentalists say even incorrigibles like C287 should be spared.
Myranda Blodgett, the Yakama fish-hunter, disagrees. "They call them natural predators, but they're not," she says. "We're the original natural predators here."
Write to Joel Millman at joel.millman@wsj.com

[Nelly]

We've talked about this on the show before but what the WFC & HSA whackos refuse to admit is the fact that Bonneville Dam is not a natural geologic phenomena... its a man made structure!
We created this unnatural feeding opportunity for sea lions and its foolish to think that we should let nature sort it out!
We created the problem and lethal removal of the sea lions is the solution!

[cobble cruiser]

I used to donate to WFC when they were called Washington Trout. Seemed like they were involved in some usefull stream rehabilitating projects back then. Some of their members were actually sportsfisherman, one of which used to write for the old "fishing holes" mag back in the day. I absolutely cannot understand the logic in their actions lately. I think they should take a trip down memory lane to the Chittendon Locks of the 1980's and remember how "Hershel and his fellow pinipeds destroyed the cedar river steelhead and salmon, among other Lake Washington tribs.

These guys are starting to resemble a PITA sort of mentality.