Chapter IV — Marine Mammal-Fisheries Interactions 



merits to the National Marine Fisheries Service on 

 both the majority and minority reports. The Commis- 

 sion noted the importance of responding to the State's 

 request in time to take measures to reduce depredation 

 of the 1995-1996 winter steelhead run. The Commis- 

 sion recommended that the Service make its decision 

 and be ready to implement appropriate actions by 1 

 January 1995. These and other comments and recom- 

 mendations made by the Commission are described in 

 the previous annual report. 



The National Marine Fisheries Service adopted the 

 task force's recommendations and by letter of 4 

 January 1995 authorized the Washington Department 

 of Fish and Wildlife to lethally remove individually 

 identifiable California sea lions observed preying on 

 winter-run steelhead migrating through the Lake 

 Washington ship canal in the vicinity of the locks. 

 The authorization specified that only "predatory" sea 

 lions could be lethally removed, that non-lethal 

 deterrents had to be tried first and found ineffective, 

 and that lethal removals could not be done unless the 

 sea lion predation rate exceeded 10 percent of the 

 steelhead migrating through the ship canal in any 

 seven-day period after 1 January 1995. The authori- 

 zation also specified that the State convene an animal 

 care committee to provide recommendations on the 

 handling of sea lions and that predatory sea lions 

 identified for lethal removal be captured and euthan- 

 ized using protocols developed by the animal care 

 committee. 



The authorization, valid until 31 June 1997, also 

 specifies that the State must submit a report on its 

 authorized activities by 1 September each year. After 

 receiving the report, the Service will ask the task 

 force to evaluate the effectiveness of the actions taken 

 and compliance with the conditions of the lethal taking 

 authorization. In its 4 January 1995 transmittal letter, 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service also requested 

 that the State take the lead in responding to the task 

 force's recommendations regarding changes in the 

 locks and lock operations to improve fish passage, 

 assessing the feasibility of constructing sea lion 

 barriers and/or refugia where steelhead can escape 

 from sea lions, and developing a comprehensive 

 winter-run steelhead recovery plan. 



The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 

 submitted the required report to the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service on 31 August 1995, describing 

 actions taken to reduce California sea lion predation 

 on the 1994-1995 winter run of steelhead in the Lake 

 Washington ship canal. The report indicated that no 

 sea lions had been killed during the run; that a large 

 male sea lion, which had been observed eating steel- 

 head in the vicinity of the locks in preceding years, as 

 well as during the 1994-1995 winter run, had been 

 captured on 25 January 1995 and held until 8 June 

 when it was released in the Strait of Juan de Fuca 

 west of Port Angeles; and that two additional sea lions 

 observed preying on steelhead in the vicinity of the 

 locks had been captured, marked, transported, and 

 released in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The letter 

 transmitting the report to the National Marine Fisher- 

 ies Service indicated that the State did not have 

 sufficient funding to continue predation monitoring at 

 the locks or to provide for the care and feeding of any 

 sea lions taken into captivity during the 1995-1996 

 season. It expressed the State's hope that the Service 

 would again be able to provide financial assistance for 

 the monitoring and captive holding programs, as well 

 as to continue its sea lion capture and tagging program 

 and experiments with acoustic deterrents. 



The State's report was provided to the Ballard 

 Locks Pinniped-Fishery Interaction Task Force for 

 review. The task force met in Seattle on 6-8 Septem- 

 ber 1995 to review the report and provide advice on 

 follow-up actions to the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service. The task force report was completed on 8 

 November 1995. By the end of the year, it had not 

 yet been forwarded to the Commission for review. 



Gulf of Maine Task Force on 

 Aquaculture-Pinniped Interactions 



Both the salmon aquaculture industry and popula- 

 tions of harbor seals and gray seals in the northeastern 

 United States have grown substantially in recent years. 

 Seals can kill and eat many salmon if they are able to 

 get into the salmon pens. Seals also can kill and 

 injure penned salmon by biting through the netting. 

 If nets are torn, the penned salmon may escape, 

 causing substantial economic loss and possible threats 

 to the genetic integrity of local wild salmon stocks. 



Ill 



