Trappings To Be Suspended
Columbia River Sea Lions Shot Dead
By Joseph Friedrichs, 5-05-08
Both state and federal officials are taking a step back this week from their bid to protect salmon by capturing sea lions on the Columbia River.
The move comes after six sea lions were shot dead in traps designed to capture the creatures for transfer to Sea World parks. The shootings are under investigation, but it is believed that someone shot the sea lions late Saturday night.
It’s difficult to comprehend why someone would want to blow away a caged sea lion, and it’s downright creepy that they would do it in the dark.
The sea lion killings come less than two weeks after an appeals court issued a temporary injunction against authorities killing the massive mammals, the Associated Press reports. Rather than killing the beasts, officials have been trapping them instead, but even trapping will be suspended during the investigation of this weekend’s slaughter.
Fishermen in the Pacific Northwest and numerous American Indian tribes have supported the trapping, and in some cases, the killing of sea lions on the Columbia. It’s understandable that there’s a desire to protect salmon for fishermen and the tribes. After all, what’s fishing if there’s no fish? And it also makes sense to protect a species that has millions of dollars invested in its future, as salmon in this region do. But the capturing, and in turn killing of these sea lions is deeply disturbing. And because there’s a definite possibility it could happen again, it may be time to rethink this entire project.
The Humane Society of the United States has gone to court to challenge this whole notion of saving salmon by removing sea lions. There is another hearing set for May 8.
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