Ocean
Watch
Monday, April 15, 1996
Let these sea lions live, and
let humans pay instead
WHAT happens when a dwindling species gets protected,
makes a comeback, then becomes such a nuisance that people want to start
killing it again?
That's the $64,000 question in Seattle lately, where a
group of clever California sea lions has figured out the Ballard Locks
fish ladders.
Actually, there's not much ingenuity required. People
built fish ladders because the locks between Puget Sound and Lake
Washington prevent steelhead trout from returning to their freshwater
spawning grounds. Such ladders enable steelheads to climb the locks and
enter the lake.
Since finding fish is a sea lion's job, this,
naturally, is where a bunch of them loiter. They are amply rewarded by
this choice of hangouts.
Sea lion number 17, named Hondo, is the biggest
California sea lion on record, weighing 1,084 pounds. The usual range for
these adult male sea lions is 750 pounds to 1,000 pounds.
Hondo and his cohorts are being blamed, in part, for
the depleted stocks of steelhead trout.
Because of this shortage, many people want the sea
lions gone. Air horns, firecrackers and rubber bullets, however, did not
permanently scare the sea lions away. Neither did net barriers,
transporting several of the culprits 900 miles south or locking up Hondo
in a zoo for a season.
WHEN the dust settled, the sea lions were back. Now the
state of Washington has received federal approval to shoot the worst
offenders.
My question is this: What is a steelhead trout anyway?
Seriously. What are trout doing wandering around in the
ocean? I thought trout were fly-eating fish living in rushing, Rocky
Mountain streams.
Indeed they are. The surprise is that humans put them
there. In fact, humans have transplanted these natives of the North
American West Coast to rivers and streams all over the world. And there
they thrive.
RAINBOW trout are perfectly happy spawning and living
their entire lives in fresh water, while steelhead trout need the ocean to
live - and they're both the same species.
They are, however, different races. Steelheads are
called the sea-run race; rainbows are the freshwater race.
So. Back to sea lions. Will killing the biggest sea
lions chowing down at the Ballard Locks help the steelhead situation?
Maybe. But not for long.
In this world of survival of the fattest, other sea
lions will soon be the kings of the locks and grow equally large. Then
wildlife officials will again be faced with a difficult decision.
And this is a tough situation for wildlife workers.
Although they are depicted as the bad guys in this by animal-rights
activists, I can't imagine one marine biologist I know enjoying the
prospect of shooting a sea lion, especially such a prime specimen as
Hondo.
I can't see how killing three or four of a zillion sea
lions is going to help the fish for long.
And neither can animal-rights activists. Some are
threatening to sue, and others are rowing around in little boats near the
Ballard Locks wearing red bull's-eye targets.
The latest word from Seattle is that a marine park in
Florida has offered to take five of the worst fish felons.
"No," say the activists. "These wild
animals should not be imprisoned. Redesign the locks so the sea lions
can't get the fish so easily."
Rebuilding the fish ladders is a good answer. The rub
is that it would cost a fortune in tax dollars. Trout and salmon (also
suffering critical shortages) have lived with seals and sea lions for eons
and have done just fine.
It's we humans that have messed up the balance of their
world; it's we humans who should pay the price.
