Sea lions return to Ore. dam for salmon

PORTLAND, Ore. - They're back. Much to the dismay of federalofficials and fishermen, California sea lions have returned to theBonneville Dam to feast on spring chinook salmon as they swim up theColumbia River to spawn.Government employees dragged out the usual arsenal of largefirecrackers, obnoxious noises and rubber bullets to fend offSteller sea lions, who prefer sturgeon, and reported some success.But the same tactics have famously flopped in the past against theCalifornians, who, like the Stellers, are federally protected andseem to know it. They prey on salmon that school up at the base ofthe dam waiting to go up the fish ladders toward spawning grounds.So far there's no sign of C404, the California sea lion whoapproached celebrity status by figuring out how to get into thedam's fish ladders for easy pickings. But officials are watching forhim."We don't know for sure where he might be," Diane Fredlund with theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Monday.C404 got his hame from a brand applied by a state and federalprogram. Spotters have learned to identify reliably troublesome sealions by brand or other characteristics.Fredlund jokingly suggested showing C404's picture to salmon passingthrough and asking, "Have you seen this face?"Dawn-to-dusk daily hazing by state and federal employees began March1 to discourage both species of sea lions."We're doing harassment against any pinniped we see out there," saidFredlund. "If they show their flippers..."Their protected status makes options against them limited."We're just making it a little uncomfortable for them. That's aboutall we can do at this point," Fredlund said.The salmon run usually picks up by mid-April, and the sea lions arethere to meet, greet and eat. The predators "are coming up earlierand staying longer," Fredlund said.For some reason, the Stellars have been easier to scare off."What's very impressive is the fact that the Steller sea lions arefundamentally gone," said Charles Corrarino of the Oregon Departmentof Fish and Wildlife in a newsletter report on the hazing. "Theyskedaddled."California sea lions are protected under the 1972 Marine MammalProtection Act, and the Stellers are listed under the stricterEndangered Species Act.Biologists say neither species began entering the Columbia in greatnumbers until about 1990.Only in the last five years have the Stellers become a threat tosturgeons, Corrarino said.Oregon, Washington and Idaho applied last year for federalpermission to kill some of the more troublesome California sealions, saying they have exhausted their options. Approval, if itcomes, could take years.By some accounts the California sea lions get about 3 percent of thesalmon runs before the fish make it over the Bonneville fishladders.Animal protection groups say agricultural runoff, the damsthemselves and damage to spawning grounds are far-greater threatsthan the sea lions to the fragile salmon runs, which have shrunk toa small fraction of their historic highs.