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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2017)
Appeal Tribune Wednesday, August 16, 2017 1B PHOTO COURTESY OF ODFW Sea lions have been eating steelhead and other fish at Willamette Falls in ever greater numbers. Sea lions push Willamette River steelhead to brink of extinction ZACH URNESS Sea lions up, steelhead down STATESMAN JOURNAL State wildlife officials say wild steel- head in the upper Willamette Basin could go extinct in coming years because of sea lions feasting on the iconic fish at Willamette Falls. The Statesman Journal reported in June that wild steelhead numbers hit all- time lows this year due to poor ocean conditions, historic drought and the long-term effects of habitat loss. But in an explosive report made pub- lic Aug. 7, officials say sea lion predation could tip the scales toward extinction in rivers including the Santiam, Molalla and Calapooia, all Willamette tributar- ies. “We’ve reached the point where, un- less we take some action, we may con- demn this run to extinction,” said Dr. Shaun Clements, senior scientist and fish policy adviser for the Oregon De- partment of Fish and Wildlife. “We need to act now or extinction may be our lega- cy.” The number of wild steelhead return- ing to the upper Willamette was the low- est on record this year with just 812 fish passing Willamette Falls. In a normal year, about 5,600 wild steelhead are counted at the falls before spreading into tributaries in the Mid- Willamette Valley to spawn. Wild winter steelhead are native to the upper Willamette, while summer steelhead are hatchery raised and more numerous in the river system. While this year’s low numbers can be attributed to poor ocean conditions and drought, sea lion numbers are growing so rapidly at Willamette Falls they’ll eventually decimate the run regardless of conditions, Clements said. The number of sea lions jumped to more than 40 last year at the falls, where they can easily target fish returning from the ocean. In 2016, sea lions con- sumed at least a quarter of the entire run, the report says. State scientists looked at the history of steelhead counts at Willamette Falls — which began in the 1970s — and pro- jected the numbers forward with cur- rent levels of fish now lost to sea lions. What they found, Clements said, was that regardless of ocean and drought conditions, the number of fish lost to pre- dation would eventually whittle the run to such small numbers it would collapse to nothing. “No matter what the conditions, with sea lions in the equation, numbers would keep dropping until the run was basical- ly gone,” he said. ODFW is in the process of applying for permits to remove or kill sea lions at Willamette Falls. But because the animals are protect- ed under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, it requires federal ap- proval that may take years. ODFW is seeking a way to take action in what they’re calling an “emergency situation.” The report says sea lion populations are healthy and it’s only a small number that have expanded to freshwater sys- tems where salmon and steelhead are easy to catch. “Removal of a few problem individ- uals will have no impact on the overall sea lion population, but can significantly benefit ESA-listed fish,” said Robin Brown, lead scientist for ODFW’s ma- rine mammal program. Five years ago, Oregon and Washing- ton received federal authorization to kill sea lions for eating salmon at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. Officials trapped and euthanized 54 sea lions in 2016, but the number of sea lions at Bon- neville remains in the hundreds. Clements said removing sea lions now — or at least sooner — would stop the number of animals at Willamette Falls from growing. But many environmental groups op- pose the practice. The Humane Society of the United States opposes culling sea lions and filed a lawsuit to prevent action at Bonneville Dam, although that ultimately failed. “What troubles us the most about kill- ing sea lions is that they’re using it as a distraction from the real problems fac- ing the fish,” Sharon Young, marine is- sues field director for the Humane Soci- ety, said in June. “They’re not adequate- ly addressing the real problems, which is dams, habitat loss, over-fishing and ocean conditions. “They’re basically trying to put a Band-Aid on a hemorrhage,” she said. “It might be satisfying, but it’s not going to change anything for the fish.” Washington example As an example of how sea lions could push steelhead to extinction, officials look at Ballard Locks in Seattle. In the 1980s, sea lions hung out at the locks and feasted on steelhead returning to spawn in Lake Washington. According to reports, the run dropped from 2,600 fish in 1983 to just 70 fish by 1994. Officials eventually got permission to remove sea lions, but the run never re- covered, with just four fish counted in 2012. “This has happened before,” Clem- ents said. “We’re trying to avoid the fate of what happened in Washington.” Clements is advocating for legislation that would revise the Marine Mammal Protection Act to allow the agency to ad- dress what he called an “emergency situ- ation” without undermining the law. In a news release, ODFW highlighted H.R. 2083, sponsored by Rep. Jaime Her- rera Beutler (R-Wash.) and Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), and S 1702, sponsored by Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), as the first steps toward that end. Zach Urness has been an outdoors writer, photographer and videographer in Oregon for nine years. He is the author of the book “Hiking Southern Oregon” and can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
