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Bloodbath on the Columbia: Sea lions die at the hands of the State amid lies and cover-up
On the Columbia river, between Oregon and Washington, State wildlife "management" agencies are brutally executing sea lions in an effort to appease fishermen, who claim that the sea lions are eating all the salmon. (The fishermen want to "save" the salmon ...for their nets.) Trapping and killing began on March 1, 2009, with the first deaths occurring shortly after. Four more animals were just put to death in the past 24 hours, despite heroic efforts to save them, and the life of a fifth hangs in the balance. WE NEED SUPPORT UP HERE.
The sea lions are dying up here. These are intelligent, sentient beings capable of learning and passing culture to their young. They are animals who form long-term relationships that persist throughout their lives. For many years, scientists have known that these beings have the capacity for language and abstract thought. They are curious and gregarious, and they love life. And today, four more of them are dead. Executed by the State for the crime of trying to feed themselves.
It should be noted that sea lions are native to this river, and have co-existed with the salmon here for thousands of years. Vast numbers of salmon and sea lions lived together here throughout the centuries, without detriment to either species. But in the 200 years since Lewis and Clark brought European "civilization" crashing into Cascadia, the salmon have gone from 20 million to less than 1% of that number. At the same time that the salmon were disappearing from the waters of the earth, so were the sea lions. Hunters killed every last seal and sea lion on the Columbia in a hundred-year orgy of death that was only brought to a stop with the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA). Once the killing stopped, the sea lions began to return to the area (though the seals have never come back). The MMPA was a resounding success, because it stopped all killing. Alas, the Endangered Species Act, which was supposed to protect the salmon, did not -- fishermen were, and are, still allowed to kill salmon on the Columbia, despite the fact that the fish are very nearly gone from the planet. If the Endangered Species Act had protected the salmon the way that the MMPA protected sea lions, both species would have returned in historical numbers. But there was too much money in the fishing industry for anyone to even consider ending the fishing, even if it will ultimately mean the end of all fishing anyway, once all the salmon are gone.
It is human predation that is killing off all the salmon on earth -- up here in Cascadia and all down the coast. It is not sea lion predation. You cannot "save" one species by killing off their naturally co-evolved predators. This has been tried repeatedly by wildlife "managers" who want to balance the equations of risk and commerce on the backs of other animals, rather than humans. It has never worked, and has always come with catastrophic consequences. Nor can you claim to be trying to "save" a species at the same time that you kill tens of thousands of them in your nets.
Throughout the killing program, the government has exhibited both a callous disregard for the lives of others, and a pattern of bungling incompetence that led to an undercover investigation by the Sea Lion Defense Brigade and Northwest In Defense of Animals. Yesterday, advocates from these groups uncovered irrefutable evidence of deceit and cover-up surrounding the identities of animals that the states did not actually have the authority to kill.
In order to get permission from the Federal government to kill animals who are supposed to be protected by congressional mandate under the MMPA, state wildlife agencies had to prove that they were "only" going after certain, very specific, readily identifiable animals who were known to have - GASP! - eaten fish. There is a "hit list" of about 150 animals whom they are authorized to kill. On Wednesday of this week, they trapped an animal whom they claimed was on that list, but who was not. When confronted with this discrepancy, officials quickly tried to cover up the identity of the animal, claiming it was actually another animal. Advocates have proof that the State is lying about that animal, calling into question whether they are being honest about any of the other animals.
This morning, advocates with the Sea Lion Defense Brigade and NW In Defense of Animals issued a demand that the State cease and desist the trapping program immediately, as they were holding at least one animal that they did not have the authorization to hold or kill. The government responded by claiming, throughout the day, that the animals would not be killed. Then, at closing time today, just before leaving for the day and the weekend, they announced on their website that three remaining animals have been killed. A fourth was executed yesterday. At ten till 5 today, Matt Rossell with In Defense of Animals was on the telephone with Rick Hargrave, spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, asking about the status of the sea lions who were being held. Hargrave simply dismissed the call, stating that he was on his way out of the office, and that if we wanted to know about the sea lions we should "just check the website." He then terminated the phone call. When activists went to the website, they found the announcement that the sea lions were dead. These are animals whom Hargrave had claimed, throughout the day, would not be "euthanized."
The state has been lying and bungling and taking the lives of innocent beings. They have been deceiving the public and clumsily covering up their mistakes. They lied in court documents to the Federal government to get permission to kill the sea lions, they've lied to advocates seeking information about the status and whereabouts of animals in their custody, and they have lied to the corporate media -- and of course, the corporate media just took whatever the State told them as gospel and failed to dig for the truth. Now, they must be stopped.
The killing on the Columbia must stop. We need people willing to stand up for the sea lions.
Please contact the Sea Lion Defense Brigade and/or NW In Defense of Animals to find out how you can help to stop the bloodbath. You can contact the Sea Lion Defense Brigade by emailing info [at] sealiondefensebrigade.org.
Or call IDA at (503)249-9996.
See sealiondefensebrigade.org for more information and updates.
It should be noted that sea lions are native to this river, and have co-existed with the salmon here for thousands of years. Vast numbers of salmon and sea lions lived together here throughout the centuries, without detriment to either species. But in the 200 years since Lewis and Clark brought European "civilization" crashing into Cascadia, the salmon have gone from 20 million to less than 1% of that number. At the same time that the salmon were disappearing from the waters of the earth, so were the sea lions. Hunters killed every last seal and sea lion on the Columbia in a hundred-year orgy of death that was only brought to a stop with the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA). Once the killing stopped, the sea lions began to return to the area (though the seals have never come back). The MMPA was a resounding success, because it stopped all killing. Alas, the Endangered Species Act, which was supposed to protect the salmon, did not -- fishermen were, and are, still allowed to kill salmon on the Columbia, despite the fact that the fish are very nearly gone from the planet. If the Endangered Species Act had protected the salmon the way that the MMPA protected sea lions, both species would have returned in historical numbers. But there was too much money in the fishing industry for anyone to even consider ending the fishing, even if it will ultimately mean the end of all fishing anyway, once all the salmon are gone.
It is human predation that is killing off all the salmon on earth -- up here in Cascadia and all down the coast. It is not sea lion predation. You cannot "save" one species by killing off their naturally co-evolved predators. This has been tried repeatedly by wildlife "managers" who want to balance the equations of risk and commerce on the backs of other animals, rather than humans. It has never worked, and has always come with catastrophic consequences. Nor can you claim to be trying to "save" a species at the same time that you kill tens of thousands of them in your nets.
Throughout the killing program, the government has exhibited both a callous disregard for the lives of others, and a pattern of bungling incompetence that led to an undercover investigation by the Sea Lion Defense Brigade and Northwest In Defense of Animals. Yesterday, advocates from these groups uncovered irrefutable evidence of deceit and cover-up surrounding the identities of animals that the states did not actually have the authority to kill.
In order to get permission from the Federal government to kill animals who are supposed to be protected by congressional mandate under the MMPA, state wildlife agencies had to prove that they were "only" going after certain, very specific, readily identifiable animals who were known to have - GASP! - eaten fish. There is a "hit list" of about 150 animals whom they are authorized to kill. On Wednesday of this week, they trapped an animal whom they claimed was on that list, but who was not. When confronted with this discrepancy, officials quickly tried to cover up the identity of the animal, claiming it was actually another animal. Advocates have proof that the State is lying about that animal, calling into question whether they are being honest about any of the other animals.
This morning, advocates with the Sea Lion Defense Brigade and NW In Defense of Animals issued a demand that the State cease and desist the trapping program immediately, as they were holding at least one animal that they did not have the authorization to hold or kill. The government responded by claiming, throughout the day, that the animals would not be killed. Then, at closing time today, just before leaving for the day and the weekend, they announced on their website that three remaining animals have been killed. A fourth was executed yesterday. At ten till 5 today, Matt Rossell with In Defense of Animals was on the telephone with Rick Hargrave, spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, asking about the status of the sea lions who were being held. Hargrave simply dismissed the call, stating that he was on his way out of the office, and that if we wanted to know about the sea lions we should "just check the website." He then terminated the phone call. When activists went to the website, they found the announcement that the sea lions were dead. These are animals whom Hargrave had claimed, throughout the day, would not be "euthanized."
The state has been lying and bungling and taking the lives of innocent beings. They have been deceiving the public and clumsily covering up their mistakes. They lied in court documents to the Federal government to get permission to kill the sea lions, they've lied to advocates seeking information about the status and whereabouts of animals in their custody, and they have lied to the corporate media -- and of course, the corporate media just took whatever the State told them as gospel and failed to dig for the truth. Now, they must be stopped.
The killing on the Columbia must stop. We need people willing to stand up for the sea lions.
Please contact the Sea Lion Defense Brigade and/or NW In Defense of Animals to find out how you can help to stop the bloodbath. You can contact the Sea Lion Defense Brigade by emailing info [at] sealiondefensebrigade.org.
Or call IDA at (503)249-9996.
See sealiondefensebrigade.org for more information and updates.
For more information:
http://sealiondefensebrigade.org
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This is outrageous.
Here's the problem. There are a list of runs of salmon in the Upper Columbia and Snake river which are very low in population; fewer than 500 fish return each year.
Most fish which do return to the Columbia are hatchery fish from hatcheries in the lower Columbia, which return in the fall. There are thousands of returning adults, and these are the runs that sports fishermen (who are typically in the rivers) and commercial fishermen (who often fish in the ocean near the coast) are catching.
The threatened runs are 'spring run', typically (Sockeye don't really have different seasonal runs, and are rare too). They are constrained by needing to travel so far up river, and the temperature of the river. They exit to the ocean at a later stage of life and don't feed near the coastline. Because of this, commercial fishermen very rarely catch the spring run fish (which is good). They can regulate fishing in the river and ban it during the spring-run passage time.So human harvest can be kept quite minimal.
What is really depressing the threatened interior columbia populations is mainstem passage (and truncation of spawning areas earlier on). Smolts and return adults have to pass several dams. Sea lions are at a high population because of the fall-run hatchery fish. The fish ladders are like an unnatural fish-chute that makes capturing them ridiculously easy for them. So, there are plenty of hatchery fish to keep them at high abundance. But if the same sea lions are waiting there when <500 fish for upstream runs are trying to get through in the spring, a fairly high fraction of them are getting eaten. The only way to solve this permanently would be to stop the hatchery production (cutting off human consumption), giving the river zone back for spawning, and improving dam passage.
Most fish which do return to the Columbia are hatchery fish from hatcheries in the lower Columbia, which return in the fall. There are thousands of returning adults, and these are the runs that sports fishermen (who are typically in the rivers) and commercial fishermen (who often fish in the ocean near the coast) are catching.
The threatened runs are 'spring run', typically (Sockeye don't really have different seasonal runs, and are rare too). They are constrained by needing to travel so far up river, and the temperature of the river. They exit to the ocean at a later stage of life and don't feed near the coastline. Because of this, commercial fishermen very rarely catch the spring run fish (which is good). They can regulate fishing in the river and ban it during the spring-run passage time.So human harvest can be kept quite minimal.
What is really depressing the threatened interior columbia populations is mainstem passage (and truncation of spawning areas earlier on). Smolts and return adults have to pass several dams. Sea lions are at a high population because of the fall-run hatchery fish. The fish ladders are like an unnatural fish-chute that makes capturing them ridiculously easy for them. So, there are plenty of hatchery fish to keep them at high abundance. But if the same sea lions are waiting there when <500 fish for upstream runs are trying to get through in the spring, a fairly high fraction of them are getting eaten. The only way to solve this permanently would be to stop the hatchery production (cutting off human consumption), giving the river zone back for spawning, and improving dam passage.
First, there are many more than "about 500" endangered salmon returning each year. But you are correct, commenter, that salmon on the Columbia river are endangered. However, you are mistaken in almost everything else you have said. To continue....
Second, while Bonneville dam presents an enormous problem for salmon, and is a chief factor in their decline, it is not because of the "artificial barrier" hypothesis that you and so many others are proposing. According to this hypothesis, the dam creates a "bottleneck" where salmon are caught pooling together, presenting an "unnatural barrier" which sea lions have learned to exploit. Therefore, says the hypothesis, the sea lions are over-exploiting the salmon in an unnatural manner, and need to be controlled at the dam. It seems logical enough to those who do not understand Columbia river history. Let me explain.
Before there was a dam there, there was a roaring, insane, almost insurmountable falls. Celilo falls. It was inundated by the dam, so people forget, but it was there. And it was an enormous obstacle for the fish, even more difficult to navigate than the dam. The salmon pooled beneath the falls in vast numbers, and both seals and sea lions knew this, and hunted below the falls. So the "barrier" in the river has always been there, fish have always pooled there, and sea lions have always hunted for them there. Still, there were MILLIONS of salmon, interacting with the sea lions in a healthy predator-prey relationship, for thousands of years.
Many people don't know this, because they don't realize that sea lions have always been on the Columbia. They erroneously think that, because "sea" is in their name, that these animals are not native to the river when, in fact, they are. Another issue here is that humans exterminated virtually every last seal and sea lion on the Columbia for more than 100 years. So people did not see them for a long time, until they began returning after the passage of the MMPA. People who are ignorant of history tend to think they just suddenly appeared here out of the blue, that they are a new phenomenon, a "population explosion," as I keep hearing. In truth, though, salmon and sea lions have always interacted on the Columbia, and until we came into the picture, there were still tens of millions of salmon.
The problem is not the sea lions below the dam, but the gill nets both above and below the dam. And it's the dam, that kills tens of thousands of salmon every year.
Try to follow along, as lives are at stake and ignorance can be deadly.
Second, while Bonneville dam presents an enormous problem for salmon, and is a chief factor in their decline, it is not because of the "artificial barrier" hypothesis that you and so many others are proposing. According to this hypothesis, the dam creates a "bottleneck" where salmon are caught pooling together, presenting an "unnatural barrier" which sea lions have learned to exploit. Therefore, says the hypothesis, the sea lions are over-exploiting the salmon in an unnatural manner, and need to be controlled at the dam. It seems logical enough to those who do not understand Columbia river history. Let me explain.
Before there was a dam there, there was a roaring, insane, almost insurmountable falls. Celilo falls. It was inundated by the dam, so people forget, but it was there. And it was an enormous obstacle for the fish, even more difficult to navigate than the dam. The salmon pooled beneath the falls in vast numbers, and both seals and sea lions knew this, and hunted below the falls. So the "barrier" in the river has always been there, fish have always pooled there, and sea lions have always hunted for them there. Still, there were MILLIONS of salmon, interacting with the sea lions in a healthy predator-prey relationship, for thousands of years.
Many people don't know this, because they don't realize that sea lions have always been on the Columbia. They erroneously think that, because "sea" is in their name, that these animals are not native to the river when, in fact, they are. Another issue here is that humans exterminated virtually every last seal and sea lion on the Columbia for more than 100 years. So people did not see them for a long time, until they began returning after the passage of the MMPA. People who are ignorant of history tend to think they just suddenly appeared here out of the blue, that they are a new phenomenon, a "population explosion," as I keep hearing. In truth, though, salmon and sea lions have always interacted on the Columbia, and until we came into the picture, there were still tens of millions of salmon.
The problem is not the sea lions below the dam, but the gill nets both above and below the dam. And it's the dam, that kills tens of thousands of salmon every year.
Try to follow along, as lives are at stake and ignorance can be deadly.
There are quite a few populations or runs in the Snake/Columbia which have fewer than 500 fish returning during many years. Salmon are locally adapted in run timing and growth to tributaries, so you can't group the fish returning to the whole region in one count (e.g., if a population went extinct, eggs or fry transplanted from another area might not be viable).
http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/trt/col/trt_current_status_assessments.cfm
Historically, there was a supportable number of seals and sea lions. At natural falls, there probably was more cover for fish from predators, but there were plenty of fish for harvest, because abundance wasn't limited by impacts to spawning areas, agricultural water, etc. There were also natural controls on the maximum number of mammals because hatchery fish couldn't swamp the wild population and produce a high number of predators. The public does value sea lions more than salmon (for example, try to sell sea lion meat at Safeway next to salmon or crab), but are you willing to allow threatened populations actually reach extinction during the short term while people get their act together on solving the other threats to survival (which for spring-run are freshwater factors rather than harvest, during most years).
http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/trt/col/trt_current_status_assessments.cfm
Historically, there was a supportable number of seals and sea lions. At natural falls, there probably was more cover for fish from predators, but there were plenty of fish for harvest, because abundance wasn't limited by impacts to spawning areas, agricultural water, etc. There were also natural controls on the maximum number of mammals because hatchery fish couldn't swamp the wild population and produce a high number of predators. The public does value sea lions more than salmon (for example, try to sell sea lion meat at Safeway next to salmon or crab), but are you willing to allow threatened populations actually reach extinction during the short term while people get their act together on solving the other threats to survival (which for spring-run are freshwater factors rather than harvest, during most years).
If you care about salmon on the Columbia, then the last thing you should be doing is supporting the state in scapegoating sea lions for reduced fish runs. The reason for the lack of fish on the Columbia is the same as for the lack of fish anywhere else on the west coast. Simple human greed.
No, there was nothing at all about Celilo falls that made it any less of a barrier than Bonneville dam. Both are barriers where natural predators congregate, as they always have. The difference between the dam and the falls is this: The dam chews up tens of thousands of smolt and spits them out in a pulpy grit of death. Celilo falls never did that. The dam clogs the wild river, causing deep, slow, hot, brackish pools of water that kill salmon. The falls never did that. The dams cause water to back up so that farmers and other water-suckers can drain off millions of gallons of precious water to spew out into the desert sand. The falls never did that.
But the one thing that Celilo falls and Bonneville dam have in common is this: Sea lions have always come here to eat salmon, and salmon have always come upstream to spawn. Oh. And fishermen have always come to both, for the purpose of killing fish.
You can't pretend you're about saving salmon unless you demand with every ounce of strength you have that the fishing on the river STOP. Until you do that, don't you tell me we just "hafta" kill sea lions. Bullshit.
No, there was nothing at all about Celilo falls that made it any less of a barrier than Bonneville dam. Both are barriers where natural predators congregate, as they always have. The difference between the dam and the falls is this: The dam chews up tens of thousands of smolt and spits them out in a pulpy grit of death. Celilo falls never did that. The dam clogs the wild river, causing deep, slow, hot, brackish pools of water that kill salmon. The falls never did that. The dams cause water to back up so that farmers and other water-suckers can drain off millions of gallons of precious water to spew out into the desert sand. The falls never did that.
But the one thing that Celilo falls and Bonneville dam have in common is this: Sea lions have always come here to eat salmon, and salmon have always come upstream to spawn. Oh. And fishermen have always come to both, for the purpose of killing fish.
You can't pretend you're about saving salmon unless you demand with every ounce of strength you have that the fishing on the river STOP. Until you do that, don't you tell me we just "hafta" kill sea lions. Bullshit.
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