Bonneville Dam Sea Lions
Articles:
- Bonneville Dam Sea Lion Slaughter
- The USA Hypocrite Read about the utter hypocrisy of the little known American seal hunt
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SAVE Bonneville Dam Sea Lions
For years now many actions have been taken to try to save the sea lions in Oregon. And in spite of all the efforts it's amazing how many people still have no idea what's going on over there. What is needed is a massive public outcry. Major attention brought to the situation. So we are attempting to put together a mass protest. Trying to get as many feet on the ground as we possibly can. And this is where I need help. Networking, trying to reach as many activists as we can, that are willing to go there and protest. The sea shepherd guardians are doing a fantastic job documenting the evidence of what is happening there. And it is thanks to them we have videos such as the following. Prior to killing them, these poor sea lions are first branded with scalding hot irons that sometimes catch fire while their branding. It's horrific! The sea lions are then left to suffer. And if they don't die first are then killed, as they have now been marked for death! Some information on the issue: While blaming sea lions for eating salmon, the states and NMFS have largely ignored major impediments that impede salmon recovery, including recommendations of government scientists to stop stocking non-native fish like bass and walleye for the purpose of recreational fishing, because these fish compete with and eat native salmon. Experts have warned that curbing the impact of these non-native fish is imperative for salmon recovery. “NMFS continues to play a shell game with harvest numbers,” said Kurt Beardslee, executive director of Wild Fish Conservancy. “They refuse to honestly and scientifically consider the effects of harvest. More endangered wild salmon would return to spawn if NMFS would require selective harvest in all fisheries and require fishers to release wild fish. This could be done without reducing the overall harvest rates, without killing a single sea lion, and it could be done with a stroke of a pen.” FACTS: While birds, other fish (including non-native fish stocked by the states for the benefit of sport fishermen) and sea lions all kill salmon, the primary threats to salmon recovery are from loss of quality habitat and dams blocking their normal migratory routes up and down river. These impediments are compounded by harvest practices and hatchery operations that independent expert panels have highlighted as badly in need of reform. The plan to shoot sea lions coincides with estimates that this spring’s Columbia River salmon run is likely to be the among the fourth largest since 1980 while, as of the date of lethal removal authorization, only two California sea lions had been seen at the dam, the fewest to date of any year since 2003 and the time each animal spends at the dam has been steadily declining over the past few years. The major causes of salmon losses are: *Dams: NMFS estimates the Federal Columbia River Power System kills 16.8 percent of adult Snake River Basin Steelhead and 59.9 percent of juveniles. *Hatcheries: In 2009, a Congressionally-mandated science panel found that current fish hatchery practices interfere with recovery and are in urgent need of reform. *Fishing: The states annually authorize the incidental take of between 5.5 and 17 percent of the Upper Columbia spring Chinook and Upper Snake River spring/summer Chinook. Additional salmon are killed in ocean fisheries. Employment of selective gear would permit wild, ESA-listed salmon and steelhead to be released unharmed when caught in the Columbia River fisheries that target abundant hatchery fish. *Other Predators: Bird predators consume millions of juvenile salmon in the Columbia River estuary each year. NMFS scientists also estimate that non-native walleye that are intentionally stocked by the states in the Columbia River eat up to 2 million juvenile salmon a year. http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2012/03/HSUS_file_suit_sea_lion_031912.html |
Branding Sea Lions, til some even catch fire.
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