By SUE RYAN
News staff writer

Trapping of sea lions began April 24 at Bonneville Dam while a court order stopped permission to kill the animals.

Sea lions have been an issue at the dams for a number of years; about 30 gathering and stationing themselves where they can feed on salmon pooled below fish ladders. The sea lions often eat species on watch lists for low numbers.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service had granted authorization requested by Washington, Oregon and Idaho to permanently remove California sea lions at the dam.

Under the marine mammal law, states can ask for permission to individually kill identifiable sea lions or seals that are having a “significant negative impact” on at-risk salmon and steelhead.

However, a group comprised of two individuals, the Humane Society of the United States and the Wild Fish Conservancy, had sought to block the killing. A Portland judge denied their request last week but the 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction Wednesday to block the agencies from any killing.

Judges will hear the matter on May 8 in California. However, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife can still proceed with trapping and relocation of the sea lions.

The federal authorization to remove the sea lions comes with a number of conditions. These include that the problem animal must be identifiable through markings, documentation must show that it has repeatedly fed on salmon and steelhead below the dam and attempts must first be made to deter predation through non-lethal hazing.

For the past three years, hazing crews from ODFW, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fisheries Commission have used flares, rubber bullets and other non-lethal measures to deter the lions. Despite those efforts, sea lions have continued and increased their feeding on fish below the dam as documented by wildlife officials.

Two sea lions were captured at Bonneville Dam. One was unbranded, will be relocated to Astoria, branded and released. The other, branded C-739, was well known by officials for its hearty appetite.