End commercial gillnetting on the Columbia River. Need your help

[Curly]

I hate hearing the defeatist attitude toward sealions.  I don't understand why it would be impossible to get something done about the sealions.  Surely with the right governors and right people in the wildlife departments, something could be done about the sealion population, couldn't it?  I mean, what if we had Butch Otter as governor?  I bet he would give the middle finger to the feds and order the killing of a bunch of sealions in order to help our native salmon, steelhead and sturgeon.

But, if nothing truly can be done about sealions, (and a point can be made about mergansers and cormorants) then the next thing that can go is gill netting. 

The Snake River dams are another issue that gets discussed, but nothing ever gets done about them..........just too much opposition and differing opinions.

If we really want to save wild fish runs, there are many things that could be done to help.  But it seems that people are not willing to sacrifice certain things for saving wild fish runs. 

It is frustrating that the sealion huggers place sealions at a higher level than wild fish runs............and gill netters place their right to fish higher than protecting wild fish.  And then there are others who don't want the nets out because natives will still have nets in, so that isn't fair................   And then there are also others who want the habitat restored; they say if the habitat isn't going to be restored, then there is no sense in doing anything.......      So, essentially nothing will get done and eventually the wild fish will be gone.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

I think this conversation is sad and JUST like the wolf topic, and here is why... Once upon a time predators of all kinds were decimated. Their prey number grew dramatically in their absence... Since those predators were protected, I think a good thing, they have rebounded to the point where they are no longer in any danger. They are impacting their prey numbers in a negative way and yet they are still protected... I hope that there is a correction of the books so that sealions, wolves, cormorants, mergansers, cougars and many others can be managed through hunting to MAXIMISE the benefit to all.
I think as hunters and anglers we need to pus for the repeal of the ESA and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. They were tools that were necessary at their inception, but like many things Federal have long outgrown their usefullness. 

You make a good point Special T. Management needs to go both ways. Protection of a truly endangered species is one thing, but managing them after they have recovered is another. With wolves at least there is a plan in place to regulate their numbers after the recovery and in fact it has been put into action in places like Idaho. Hunters now have the opportunity to take wolves legally and help control their numbers.  Sea mammals unfortunately have no such plan or even an indication of how many is enough or even too many. Other than certain Alaska native, no one is helping to control their numbers, and they only do it sporadically.

[runamuk]

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19950112&slug=2099028
interesting reading...snippet from the column...

While the sea lion have a new friend in sabotage, they also have an old enemy: Puget Sound treaty tribes that historically hunted them for subsistence. The amendment to the Marine Mammal Protection Act specifically reaffirmed the treaty right of tribes to hunt sea lions. All they have to do is post a regulation of their own. The Makah Tribe on the coast already has.

Up to 20 treaty tribes in Western Washington could follow suit. The Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission said the tribal harvest "could help bring the marine ecosystem back into balance by reducing the rapidly increasing number of seals and sea lions preying on dwindling salmon runs."

PAWS officials have threatened to sue government agencies to stop the killing of any sea lions. They have hinted they might sue the Indians. Put that one in the loss column for PAWS right now.

this article is from 1995 so since 1995 why have the tribes not stepped in? Why have the sea lions continued out of control and they remain on a list and everyone says wild steelhead are the endangered ones...I think the best solution is put the steelhead on a list cut off all fishing of them by all people until the numbers recover to self sustaining levels above the needs of sealions then at that point surpluses could be identified and divided among the people 

[scout/sniper]

this article is from 1995 so since 1995 why have the tribes not stepped in? Why have the sea lions continued out of control and they remain on a list and everyone says wild steelhead are the endangered ones...I think the best solution is put the steelhead on a list cut off all fishing of them by all people until the numbers recover to self sustaining levels above the needs of sealions then at that point surpluses could be identified and divided among the people 

All about the $$$ Run.
Just follow the money trail and you will find the truth.