US allows killing sea lions to protect fish

[Still Waters]

Wildlife managers in some parts of the US have been given permission to start killing hundreds of sea lions in a bid to protect salmon and steelhead trout.

The marine mammals have been feasting on the migrating fish in the Columbia River basin where they bottleneck at dams or where they head up tributaries to spawn.

Shaun Clements, senior policy analyst for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said: "These are places where the fish are really vulnerable.

"We have to manage this so the fish can get through to spawn."

https://news.sky.com/story/us-allows-killing-of-sea-lions-because-theyre-eating-struggling-northwest-salmon-12049764

[SHaYap]

Eric and the missus wants a new fur coat for election day ... 

~

[khol]

Heres a link of the motorized orca they once used to distract sea lions. Would have been a blast being the dude driving it ... lol

https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2015/06/fake_orca_swamped_in_effort_to.html

But its a sad state of affairs when we intervene with nature... kill one species to preserve another. Theres talk of a sea lion cull up in my neck of the woods as well. Protecting salmon stocks is important but sea lions are not the only problem salmon face. Warming ocean tempertures are a huge factor. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/climate/ocean-warming-climate-change.html  .

..and there are other examples of habitat loss

 

[spartan max2]

This happens periodically with different wildlife all the time.

I remember some places started allowing coyote hunting because the population got too big.

With one population too big and can alter the ecosystem. 

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by spartan max2

[XenoFish]

30 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

This happens periodically with different wildlife all the time.

I remember some places started allowing coyote hunting because the population got too big.

With one population too big and can alter the ecosystem. 

 

So when are we allowed to hunt people?

[spartan max2]

4 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

So when are we allowed to hunt people?

Not sure.

I'll bring it up at the next Illuminati world order committee meeting.

[XenoFish]

10 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

Not sure.

I'll bring it up at the next Illuminati world order committee meeting.

We haven't set that meeting up yet. We're kinda waiting this civil unrest and covid out. Might not have to you know, Thanos the whole thing.

[+and-then]

4 hours ago, XenoFish said:

So when are we allowed to hunt people?

About uh...80 days and counting?  

[Abramelin]

5 hours ago, XenoFish said:

So when are we allowed to hunt people?

We are allowed: we call it 'war'.

[Bendy Demon]

I suspect that this move is not being done to protect anything except the sport of fishing.

Sea lions eat fish, so do bears and certain birds of prey -among other critters. It's called 'nature' and we humans are always making a mess of things in the name of 'progress' or poorly misplaced, so-called 'conservation'.

Ever watch nature shows where bears just sit and wait for the salmon run? Sometimes these bears position themselves just right that a fish can practically jump into their jaws and you'd think that with all those bears that the fish would never get through yet, despite the bears and other predators, they do.

Nature doesn't need us to intervene unless we were the ones actively messing things up (like pollution or the brain-shrunken idea that killing predators is going to do anything good).

But again, this had nothing to do with 'saving' anything but rather preserving our desire for sport fishing.

Let the cycles play out, they have done so for milenia without humans interfering.

[Myles]

On 8/15/2020 at 8:41 PM, Bendy Demon said:

I suspect that this move is not being done to protect anything except the sport of fishing.

Sea lions eat fish, so do bears and certain birds of prey -among other critters. It's called 'nature' and we humans are always making a mess of things in the name of 'progress' or poorly misplaced, so-called 'conservation'.

Ever watch nature shows where bears just sit and wait for the salmon run? Sometimes these bears position themselves just right that a fish can practically jump into their jaws and you'd think that with all those bears that the fish would never get through yet, despite the bears and other predators, they do.

Nature doesn't need us to intervene unless we were the ones actively messing things up (like pollution or the brain-shrunken idea that killing predators is going to do anything good).

But again, this had nothing to do with 'saving' anything but rather preserving our desire for sport fishing.

Let the cycles play out, they have done so for milenia without humans interfering.

Since the dam is providing the hunting ground, humans are the ones who messed it up.

 

Thirteen species of Columbia basin salmon and steelhead are listed under the Endangered Species Act. State and federal agencies, tribes and partner organizations have spent billions of dollars over the past few decades on various efforts to recover the populations, including habitat restoration and fish passage at dams, in addition to sea lion removals.

NOAA estimates that sea lions consume nearly 10,000 adult spring Chinook salmon a year, more than 3% of returning adult fish. Overall, NOAA believes that approximately 25 to 35% of the fish consumed by sea lion are listed under the ESA. Removals efforts have been underway since 2008. In 2016, NOAA estimated that removals at Bonneville Dam between 2008 and 2016 prevented the loss of 15,000 to 20,000 salmon and steelhead.

 

https://wildlife.org/sea-lions-to-be-culled-to-protect-salmon/

[Myles]

On 8/15/2020 at 10:58 AM, spartan max2 said:

This happens periodically with different wildlife all the time.

I remember some places started allowing coyote hunting because the population got too big.

With one population too big and can alter the ecosystem. 

 

Don't get me started on coyotes.   Ha ha.   Not a fan of them at all.  In Indiana, you can shoot them at will all year long as long as you say they were a pest (going after pets, getting in the trash, killing chickens).  I've never shot one, but I would if the chance presented itself.  

[khol]

https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/orca-spotted-punting-seal-off-vancouver-island-1.5067792

This is close to where I live

Seals dont win popularity contests around here much