Sea lion hazing starts Monday on the Willamette River
CLACKAMAS, Ore. (AP) — A boat crew armed with seal bombs and shotguns loaded with firecrackers will be back on the Willamette River this year trying to keep sea lions from chowing down on salmon bottled up at Willamette Falls.
The hazing started in 2010 but was suspended last year for lack of money. The Legislature authorized $113,000 to pay for a boat and crew for three months, starting Monday. The idea is to allow more threatened spring chinook and winter steelhead to get past the sea lions to spawn.
The state says as many as 21 sea lions were at the falls in 2011, where biologists estimate they can each eat four to seven fish a day.
Similar efforts have been going on for years at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
I want this job! Boats and explosives, does it get any better?
Should be a big correction...seals/sea lions do NOT eat the fish...they take ONE bite out of the fish, trying to get the area of the egg sack, then go on to the next fish. I watched 1 sea lion on the rogue river kill 6 salmon within 5 minutes, I'm sure he was not done. Olympia WA had (has) same problem 400+ harbor seals, they keep the screens up so the fish cannot go upriver until the indians have taken their 60,000 guarantee. In the meantime the seals destroy the run. About 1990 there were only something like 15 fish made it up the Deschutes river to the counting station near the old Olympia Brewery the rest either caught or killed by the seals. Divers say that after the run, the entire harbor at Olympia is covered with dead fish...literally 10's of thousands.  Congress REALLY needs to change the laws...there was NEVER a time when seals/sea lions were endangered...ask any commercial fisherman. The problem with Herschel at the Ballard Locks at Seattle was easily solved, but not by the fisheries department!
 @flyingtime If you're going to argue your side, at least get your facts straight. What you describe is not accurate. Sea lions consistently eat the whole fish. What you probably witnessed, without researching further, was the sea lion breaking up the pieces of salmon, seemingly throwing them. I've observed a lot of sea lions and have not seen one kill more than a salmon a minute! That's a ludicrous claim. The dive alone to retrieve the salmon would take longer. This type of outright misrepresentation is particularly egregious in the face how much we humans consume and waste. We are the biggest threat to salmon populations. Your erroneous conclusions make you look pretty foolish.
 @flyingtime And you probably eat the center of the pizza and not your crust... and your point is? (besides stupid)
KILL 'EM ALL!!!!!
The sea lions have been coming for generations eating the salmon and other game fish. It's just that the hazing that was done before the Endangered Species Act involve bullets. That stopped the repeat offenders from eating fish and it was quite effective. When one sea lion saw another dead one float by they got the message. The current hazing does very little. It only scares them off for about 20 min.Until we stop listening to the environmental wackos and start doing the right thing by killing the sea lions were really just wasting money and time.
 @OrThinker In your comment likes the crux of this whole problem ... that killing sea lions, to you and to many, is the "right" thing. In what universe is it "right" to cruelly exterminate animals for no other purpose than human greed and gluttony? Give me a break. It's human fisheries, dams and other anthropogenic intrusions that are destroying the runs for all. How tragic that our species is so ignorant and malicious as to scapegoat instead of having the wherewithal to change our own ways.
 @OrThinker EXACTLY what I meant.....Take care of business.
When is the ODFW going to stop fooling around with this and just take care of business?
I would gladly participate in a sea lion harvest season
I added this to my OSU survey for fish managment
Let's whip out the ole calculator. With 21 sea lions eating 6 salmon a day for 2 months at a cost of $113,000 to prevent the loss, that's $15 per fish. Enjoy!
 @dynamited77 im not sure if your for or against?. But the same argument can be made from commercial stand point. Say commercial fishermen who are affected the same if not worse then us recreational fishermen. 21 sealions 6 fish a day =126 salmon. say they make 2 $ a pound average 20 lb. 126 salmon x 20lb = 2520 lb a day x 2$ =  5040$ a day. x 2 months (60 days) = 302,400$. combine that potential with the potential loss to rec fisheries  15$ a fish doesn't seem so bad
With all the modifications we have made to dams and rivers we spend much more per finish to keep the fish alive. So $15 added is a drop in the bucket of the cost of saving salmon. I heard estimates over $2000 a fish when all the costs are added up. I don't know if that's anywhere near true but I'm sure $15 isn't much in this scale of money spent on saving salmon
"The state says as many as 21 sea lions were at the falls in 2011, where biologists estimate they can each eat four to seven fish a day." Those are some hungry biologists!
There are plenty of fishermen, me included, who will solve the problem for free. All the legislature has to do is authorize us to take care of the problem.
 @I812 The "problem" is human fisheries and human fisherman who take far more than what would be construed fair in nature. But always, we present misguided resolutions that target the animals when it's our habits, greed and technology that are to blame.
@ArtieO What planet do you live on? California sea lions are not native to the Willamette River. Salmon are, and have been, protected for a long time. So, no, humans are not taking far more than what would be construed fair in nature. The sea lions are a developed problem caused, in part, by building dams and creating the subsequent "feed lot" at fish ladder entrances. Sometimes unintended consequences result from our desire for things like electricity. When unintended consequences arise they must be addressed to reestablish balance. Of course I am sure you are going without electricty, aren't you? And you don't eat anything that you don't grow yourself? And you don't use fossil fuels or use transportation that uses fossil fuels?Â
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@Dr. Rawdog Yes, and the "experts" have been so successful, haven't they? Hazing (which has been going on for decades) doesn't work but it is the political compromise with groups like Greenpeace and PETA. There is a group of sea lions that follow the salmon up the river every year and teach their offspring to do the same thing. Eliminating this relatively small population would break the chain and help in salmon recovery. Unfortunately it is not politically palatable so we will go on banging our heads against the wall spending billions on salmon recovery while creating a virtual feed lot for sea lions. At least they are now taking out the most aggressive sea lions at Bonneville but doing so will not solve the problem.
 @I812 Sorry, need to petition US Congress. Federal protection.
Humans are such bullies and insist on being the police of the animal kingdom.
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FTR, that's sarcasm, folks.
Good Lord, an OSP Trooper with a custom made .308 would end the problem. Kenny, where are you with that York special??
 @boned For some, the answer is always to kill something. I bet you're a joy to live with.
Hazing! What is this, a fraternity? FOOD Fiiiiiight!
 @The Resistance One big zit!! 'Mohamed' in the opening scenes was in my dorm and great kid!! I was home from the war a few years earlier and bought all the beer...
Maybe they should catch the worst of them. Put a dog SHOCK COLLAR on them then let them learn by NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT! put a transmitter near the dam and if they get within a 1000 yds ZZAAPPPP!! problem solved for many years with lithium ion batteries. : ) Â !
"The hazing started in 2010 but was suspended last year for lack of money. The Legislature authorized $113,000 to pay for a boat and crew for three months" Give me $10,000 and 1 day and you will have no more sea lion problem.
 @randomdude I'd do it for $5k. LOL