Sea lions that gorge on steelhead trout trying to
swim around the locks in Seattle, Wash., may have to worry about
getting eaten themselves. The Muckleshoot Indian tribe has asked
the National Marine Fisheries Service for permission to harvest the
meat, hides and teeth from sea lions if the agency targets them for
execution, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The steelhead
run, now close to extinction, has fallen dramatically from 3,000
just 10 years ago to only 70 fish last year. Half the loss each
year is caused by sea lions that wait at the locks to feed on the
easy prey. Since the tribe has traditionally hunted marine animals,
a sea lion harvest is permitted by the Marine Mammal Protection
Act. But the fisheries agency says it must first exhaust other
options, including capturing and temporarily holding three or four
of the most troublesome animals at an aquarium or zoo during the
steelhead run. Fisheries spokesperson Brian Gorman, however, says
animal-rights advocates object to the trapping and have sabotaged
efforts in the past.
*Ross
Freeman
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline No more free lunch.
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