House subcommittee hears tribal, industry calls to expand area-based lethal removal authority to protect salmon

WASHINGTON — The House Committee on Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries held an oversight hearing on sea lion predation in the Pacific Northwest, where tribal leaders, industry representatives and a senior National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official offered sharply different emphases on solutions while agreeing the issue is contributing to salmon declines.

Chair Hageman opened the hearing by framing the conflict at the heart of the discussion: “We are here today to hold an oversight hearing titled sea lion predation in the Pacific Northwest,” and said members would examine the Marine Mammal Protection Act’s interaction with the Endangered Species Act and recent authority granted for the Columbia River.

The hearing spotlighted two strands of evidence. NOAA’s Samuel Rauch told the subcommittee that pinniped predation “is clearly a factor that is limiting recovery of the salmon stocks,” while also noting the agency’s view that pinniped populations on the West Coast are at or near their optimal sustainable levels. Rauch said NOAA has issued a dozen authorizations under Section 120/120f since the mid-1990s and that states have removed roughly…