Judge leans toward government in sea lion dispute

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A federal judge said Wednesday he is inclined to side with the government on the issue of whether it can kill up to 85 sea lions a year at Bonneville Dam beginning next spring to reduce salmon predation.

But U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman said he wants to further examine some aspects of the dispute with The Humane Society of the United States and likely will rule in about two weeks. He indicated the case is headed for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals either way.

In March, NOAA Fisheries authorized Oregon and Washington to kill up to 85 sea lions described as the worst offenders. The agency listed about 60 - identifiable by branding, scars or other markings - for "immediate removal." The order encouraged trapping them if possible for placement in aquariums or zoos.

The Humane Society and others quickly sued to block the action, claiming dams, fishing and birds are much more of a threat to salmon than sea lions.< /P>

California sea lions, protected under the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, plunder the spring runs in varying numbers for about three months a year, gathering at the dam to catch salmon waiting to pass through fish ladders to upriver spawning grounds.

An amendment allows states to trap or kill the animals selectively with federal permission if they are deemed too much of a nuisance.

In recent years, the number of sea lions at the dam has averaged about 85, many of them repeat visitors.

At Wednesday's hearing, lawyers cited conflicting studies over how many salmon the sea lions eat, with one suggesting that each consumes up to 10 a day, another putting it closer to one or two.

Regardless of the number, Humane Society lawyer Rebecca Judd argued that sea lions take far fewer than dams and fishermen.

Mosman said the sea lions vs. dam predation figures are vastly different considerations that cannot be contrasted. He said he found the argumen t about the fishermen's take "more troubling."

Fishermen get 17 percent of this year's run and are guaranteed at least 5.5 percent in any year. Dams kill an estimated 60-to-70 percent of young salmon headed downriver. NOAA puts observed sea lion predation at from .4 percent to 4.2 percent depending on the size of the runs and says the real number likely is much higher.

The judge said he is leaning away from the Humane Society argument that the sea lion plan triggers what would be a time-consuming environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Protection Act since there was no real argument of a conflict of good and bad impact.

He noted both sides agreed that taking up to 85 sea lions a year for five years wouldn't affect the California sea lion population, which now stands at about 238,000.

He waved off Humane Society contentions that endangered Steller sea lions could be shot by mistake, saying updated regulations for sea lion remova l took that into account.

Two trapped Stellers were among six sea lions found dead after being trapped at the dam for relocation last spring. The plan to kill or permanently remove sea lions has been on hold since then.

Mosman said he will examine whether NOAA took a sufficiently hard look at whether shooting sea lions would harm recreational activities of those who like to watch wildlife at the dam.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.