Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumOregon Wants to Kill More Endangered Sea Lions to Save Endangered Fish
Leslie Nemo
Apr 7 2018, 9:00am
A case study in the unforeseen consequences of well-meaning attempts at wildlife conservation in the Pacific Northwest, so protective as to be counterproductive.
Every day at 6 AM, a team of Oregon Fish and Wildlife officers check the traps. The cages encircle dockssea lions love sunbathingthroughout the Columbia River Basin, at a strategic point just before the Willamette Falls, a natural feature in a tributary of the same name. If a trap door is closed, officers barge the sea lion out of the river and wrangle the agitated mammal into yet another trap, before driving it 230 miles to the California coast, only to have the same sea lion virtually beeline back to the same stretch of the Columbia.
At which point, the cycle begins all over again.
For a decade now, OFW has been caught in this capture-release-recapture loop of trapping sea lions. Hauling a 500-pound pinniped from its watery perch can be dangerous, though its one of the only intervention strategies the wildlife team has had since the sea lions first moved into the Columbia River to pursue steelhead trout and Chinook salmon. The mammals are considered endangered and have extremely strict kill regulations, but those two fish types theyre eating through, the trout and salmon, are likewise both threatened and endangered species. If the trap-release-retrap circle continues, OFW thinks theres a high likelihood one of those fish populations will go extinct.
Its a case study in the unforeseen consequences of well-meaning attempts at wildlife conservation, so protective as to be counterproductive. As more and different kinds of nonnative sea lions have arrived in the Columbia River Basin over the years, state, federal, tribal, and animal rights organizations remain locked in negotiations over legal precedents and predicted ramifications. Things came to a head at the end of January when the governors of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon asked Congress to lift some restrictions on the lethal removal of the endangered sea lions.
More:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qvxzdb/oregon-sea-lion-kills-endangered
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
4 replies, 656 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (4)
ReplyReply to this post
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Oregon Wants to Kill More Endangered Sea Lions to Save Endangered Fish (Original Post)
Judi Lynn
Apr 2018
OP
safeinOhio
(32,727 posts)1. Could it be......
An invasive species is a plant, fungus, or animal species that is not native to a specific location (an introduced species), and that has a tendency to spread to a degree believed to cause damage to the environment, human economy or human health.[1][dubious discuss]
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)2. Thank you for posting another great science article.
I'm forwarding to my daughter who is a marine science major.
NickB79
(19,274 posts)3. Are the sea lions moving north due to a warmer climate?
If so, the only way to protect the fish is to transplant them to rivers further north as well. Anything less will ultimately fail.
hunter
(38,328 posts)4. Need more orca?
Do not watch if videos of predators doing what predators do upsets you.
Nature is brutal.