Activists Sue to Stop illing of Pacific Northwest Sea Lions

By Teresa Carson

United States - Wildlife activists sued on Monday to stop the killing of sea lions that have been eating endangered Columbia River salmon, seeking a reprieve for the animals a day before three Pacific Northwest states are authorized to begin executing them.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., follows last week's decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service to sanction the limited killing of California sea lions.

The Humane Society of the United States, Wild Fish Conservancy and two individual plaintiffs are seeking an injunction barring the authorization from taking effect on Tuesday.

The hungry sea lions swim 140 miles upstream and cluster at the Bonneville Dam, on the border between Oregon and Washington state, to eat salmon and steelhead trout as the fish head up the Columbia River to spawn. That is seen by the states as a threat to the recovery of the fish.

But animal rights activists argue that the sea lions are unfairly blamed for low fish stocks and charge that fishing, hatchery practices, hydroelectric dam barriers, and environmental degradation pose a far greater risk.

"Federal law allows the killing of sea lions only in very limited circumstances, when the agency proves they are having a significant negative impact on salmon," Jonathan Lovvorn, Humane Society senior vice president, said in a written statement.

"The National Marine Fisheries Service's decision to kill hundreds of native marine mammals to reduce salmon losses by a couple of percentage points at best, while simultaneously authorizing much larger man-made sources of endangered salmon mortality, is both outrageous and patently illegal."

Brian Gorman, spokesman in the Seattle office of the National Marine Fisheries Service, called the legal challenge "not unexpected."

"Now, it is up to the court to respond," Gorman said.

Wildlife activists have battled the fisheries service in court for several years over the controversial practice of killing sea lions to protect stocks of Columbia River basin Chinook salmon.

The sea lions are guarded under the Marine Mammals Protection Act and the suit charges the fisheries service's order violates those laws.

Under Thursday's order, the states can kill only sea lions known to have eaten salmon and are limited to 92 animals per year.

The sea lions can be killed only if zoos or aquariums don't want them. Since 2008, the states have killed 28 sea lions and 10 have been sent to zoos or aquariums.

The Federal permission was set to run from March 20 to May of 2016.

The Bonneville Dam is the first hydroelectric dam on the Columbia River, which divides Washington and Oregon.

U.S. Navy Sued Over Possible Effect of Sonar on Whales

United States - Conservationists and Native American tribes are suing over the U.S. navy's expanded use of sonar in training exercises off the country's west coast, saying the noise can harass and kill whales and other marine life.

In a lawsuit being filed Thursday by the environmental law firm Earthjustice, the Natural Resources Defence Council and other groups claim the National Marine Fisheries Service was wrong to approve the navy's plan for the expanded training.

They said regulators should have considered the effects repeated sonar use can have on those species over many years and should have restricted where the navy could conduct sonar and other loud activities to protect orcas, humpbacks and other whales, as well as seals, sea lions and dolphins.

Instead, the navy is required to look around and see if sea mammals are present before they conduct the training.

Balance training needs with environmental stewardship, says lawyer

Kristen Boyles, an attorney with Earthjustice, said it's the job of the fisheries service to balance the needs of the navy with measures to protect marine life.

"But it can't be possible that it's no-holds-barred."

In 2010, the fisheries service approved the navy's five-year plan for operations in the Northwest Training Range Complex, an area roughly the size of California that stretches from the waters off California to the Canadian border. The navy has conducted exercises there for 60 years but in recent years proposed increased weapons testing and submarine training.

The environmental groups want the permit granted to the navy to be invalidated. They are asking the court to order the fisheries service to study the long-term effects of sonar on marine mammals, in accordance with the Endangered Species Act and other laws.

Regulators determined that while sonar use by navies has been associated with the deaths of whales around the world, including the beaching of 37 whales on North Carolina's Outer Banks in 2005, there was little chance of that happening in the U.S. Northwest. The short duration of the sonar use, typically 90 minutes at a time by a single surface vessel, and reduced intensity would help prevent whale deaths, they said.

Regulators required the navy to shut down sonar operations if whales, sea lions, dolphins or other marine mammals were spotted nearby.

Lawsuit says sonar can impact marine life and habitat

The lawsuit, being filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, claims that the navy's sonar use in the Northwest might be strong enough to kill the animals outright. But even if it doesn't, it claims, the repeated use of sonar in certain critical habitats, such as breeding or feeding grounds, over many years could drive those species away, making it more difficult for them to eat or reproduce. The fisheries service should have ordered the navy to keep out of such areas, at least seasonally, the environmental groups said.

A spokeswoman for the navy declined to comment on Wednesday, saying she had not seen the lawsuit, and the fisheries service did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

The plaintiffs include People for Puget Sound, a Seattle-based non-profit, and the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, which represents 10 Northern California American Indian tribes.