Sea lions: cuddly dog-like marine mammals with big sad eyes. Sea lions: efficient salmon-killing machines that threaten wild stocks. Those are two ends of the spectrum in an ongoing battle in the Pacific Northwest centered around these large, abundant pinnipeds. That battle got a bit hotter this week, according to a report in the Bellingham Herald, after Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) spoke in a U.S. House subcommittee in favor of his bill that would allow Washington, Oregon and Idaho to issue permits to kill California sea lion populations that are deemed a threat to salmon. While I’m not crazy about the idea of rubbing out sea lions, I tend to come down on the side of some state fishery managers and many fishermen who say sea lion herds need culling. The main reason is that our own environmental tampering has left salmon and steelhead ...![Sport Fishing Mag]()
