Courtesy ODFW

Pull out the traps – a federal appeals court says there won’t be any more killing of sea lions at Bonneville Dam.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a stop to the killing saying that wildlife officials didn’t really explain how killing sea lions is supposed to help salmon and steelhead.

At first look, the answer to that question seems obvious. Bonneville Dam is a big bottleneck for salmon working their way upstream to spawn. It forces them into a small area and makes them easy pickings for California and Steller sea lions.

But the legal standard appears to require a “significant negative impact” and the court says federal and state wildlife officials didn’t prove that’s what was happening.

The trapping and killing of sea lions at Bonneville began in March of 2008. Since then, 40 sea lions were euthanized.

This was a tricky issue from the start.

In the early 2000s, wildlife officials worried about the increasing numbers of sea lions arriving at Bonneville every spring. They’d hang out just below the dam for several months, feasting on salmon and steelhead. Just how many fish they ate depended greatly on whether the salmon were having a good year, or a bad one. In some years, the sea lions were eating more than 4% of the fish at Bonneville.

Plus, salmon and steelhead are listed species. So are Steller sea lions. California Sea lions aren’t listed, but they still have lots of legal protections. Does it make sense to kill one group of protected species to help another?

In this case, the appeals court said, “no”.

If you want to read the full opinion, click here.

Opinion for: HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED S V. CARLOS GUTIERREZ, 08-36038

A Steller Sea Lion. Photo from NOAA

The all you can eat seafood buffet at Bonneville Dam is open for business.

Early season numbers from Oregon Fish and Wildlife tell us that anywhere from a dozen to two dozen sea lions are hanging out at the dam, enjoying the easy pickings of salmon and sturgeon. Most of are Steller sea lions, only a few of them are of the California variety.

Those numbers are typical for late February, according Rick Hargrave of ODFW. Steller sea lions arrive first. The number of California sea lions will pick up starting in March.

What is unusual – is how much fish they’re eating.

Hargrave says that as of last count, the stellers ate 531 sturgeon, almost twice as many as they ate by this time a year ago. It’s an amount that Hargrave calls, “significant”. In all of 2009, the stellers took about 1700 sturgeon at Bonneville.

Those numbers only include what wildlife officials have been able to observe at the dam. Hargrave says the stellers also feed further downstream, as far west as Beacon Rock. At that location they’re too far away to be observed and are eating an uncounted number of sturgeon.

Of particular concern to officials, the stellers appear to be going after large breeding females, the ones with eggs for future generations of fish.

Hazing of the sea lions at Bonneville began in January. But beyond that, Hargrave says they have few options for controlling steller predation at the dam. The stellers are listed as a threatened species, trapping or killing them is against the law. On the other hand, sturgeon are not listed so they don’t have nearly as much legal protection.

It’s the opposite of the situation between California sea lions and salmon. In this case, the fish are endangered but the sea lions are not. That’s why the federal government is allowing wildlife officials to trap, remove or euthanize some of the California sea lions at Bonneville.

Sturgeon Numbers Are Down

Data provided to fishery managers in Oregon and Washington show that the number of sturgeon in the Columbia River has declined since 2005. While looking relatively steady through 2007, there was a 28% drop off by 2008.

As a result, Oregon and Washington dramatically cut back the sturgeon season that begins March 1. The catch limit for 2010 is set at 24,000 sturgeon below Bonneville Dam. That’s down 40% from 2009. Hargrave says, “predation by stellars is compontent of that.”

California Sea Lion Trapping Returns

As for the California sea lions, Hargrave says the trapping season begins the first week of March. The controversy surrounding this program may only grow. Not a single zoo or aquarium has agreed to take in a sea lion this year. So when wildlife officials capture a California sea lion who’s on the list of heavy predators, it will be euthanized. Sea lions that are not on the list are branded, tagged and then released.

In 2009, 20 California sea lions were trapped at Bonneville. Of those, six were released, four were sent to zoos and aquariums, and ten were put down.

As the Columbian notes this morning, three weeks have gone by without any sea lions being captured. Brian Gorman with NOAA Fisheries tells the paper officials aren’t sure if the animals have become trap shy. But the latest report on the Army Corps of Engineers website says the sea lions have started using a concrete pad to haul out instead of using the traps.

Courtesy Oregon Fish And Wildlife

The Columbian also reports that Oregon Fish and Wildlife has ruled out shooting the sea lions, at least for this year.

Since the trapping program began March 11, 15 sea lions have been captured. Four were released, four were relocated to an aquarium and a zoo, and the remaining seven were put down.

Officials say the numbers of California sea lions hanging out at Bonneville Dam are down from previous years, probably because the most troublesome predators have been removed. The numbers of Steller sea lions are up.

State and federal officials received permission to trap and possibly kill the sea lions because they’re eating large numbers of salmon trying to get over the Bonneville Dam. The Columbian says they got nearly 3% of the salmon at the dam last year.

And if you have any doubts about how smart these guys are, a few years ago one of the sea lions figured out how to get past the dam by hitching a ride on barges going through the locks.

• 15 sea lions captured
• 7 euthanized
• 4 relocated to a zoo or aquarium
• 4 released

The 11 that were killed or released were on a special watch list of sea lions that are especially heavy predators of salmon at the dam. The seven sea lions that were put down had viral infections making them unsuitable for zoos or aquariums. Although it’s unlikely wildlife officials would have found homes for all of them, even if they were healthy.

One sea lion, numbered C287, has been especially lucky at the dam, taking about 100 fish so far this spring. He remains at large.

Courtesy ODFW

Oregon Fish and Wildlife says the sea lion couldn’t be placed in a zoo or aquarium because it has contagious viral lesions, which is the same reason it says put down the three other sea lions.

Meanwhile, two of the remaining six sea lions were branded and released. One has passed a health exam and the remaining four are being examined today.

Wildlife officials have federal permission to trap and kill up to 80 sea lions that heavy predators of salmon at Bonneville Dam.