sea lions

Three Northwest states’ request to lethally remove sea lions from the Columbia River is now open for public comment.

A big rebound in the sea lion population along the West Coast in recent years has created a constant battle to wrangle the protected animals. They're smart and fun to watch from a safe distance, but also noisy, smelly and proving to be a headache for some coastal marinas.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has started killing sea lions below Willamette Falls to protect a fragile run of winter steelhead.

Congress has agreed to make it easier to kill sea lions threatening fragile runs of salmon in the Northwest. A bill approved by the House this week changes the Marine Mammal Protection Act to lift some of the restrictions on killing sea lions to protect salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River and its tributaries.

In a clash of protected species, Pacific Northwest members of Congress are coming down in favor of salmon. The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled to vote to make it easier to kill sea lions who feast on Columbia and Willamette River salmon and steelhead.

The U.S. House approved a bill Jun 26 that makes it easier to kill a limited number of sea lions that threaten imperiled salmon and steelhead populations.