VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — It’s not just chinook salmon that sea lions are picking off in the lower Columbia River near the Bonneville Dam, it’s sturgeon, including the larger spawning fish.
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Department estimates nearly 11,000 sturgeon will be killed in 2011 by sea lions while the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department estimates the figure will be closer to 7,000.
The Columbian reports sea lion predation was discussed at a joint Washington-Oregon sturgeon meeting Monday at Longview.
Washington sturgeon program manager Brad James says nearly all the sturgeon are taken by Steller sea lions, which are larger and more rare than California sea lions and protected under the Endangered Species Act.
