O.R.C.

40 miles east of Portland, Oregon, Bonneville Dam blocks the Columbia River. Bonneville Dam is maintained by The US Army Corp of Engineers and serves the Bonneville Power Adminstration (located in Portland). The dam has had a devastating effect on Columbia River’s salmon population, only a minority of which is able to make it up the fish-ladders to spawn. California sea lions have discovered the gathering of endangered fish at the base of the dam and have begun to eat them, naturally enough. But rather than remove the dam and restore the Columbia River to its natural balance, the government has decided to kill the protected (but not “endangered”) california sea lions, at the same time that fishing quotas are expected to go up 33%, proving that the government respects human, but not non-human, fishing.

Government “conservation” experts, the National Marine Fisheries Service, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, have given permission to kill large numbers of the sea lions in an attempt to stop them from eating. The NOAA contact for this project is Brian Gormon, whose contact can be found here.

Fortunately for the sea lions, the Humane Society and The Wild Fish Conservatory have filed suit against the slaughter, and have won a stay of execution until the case can be heard further, currently scheduled for May 8th in Pasadena, CA.