Chapter III — Marine Mammal/Fisheries Interactions 



Washington Ship Canal; (3) has penetrated the acous- 

 tic barrier and has been seen foraging in the enson- 

 ified zone during the steelhead run after 1 January 

 1994; and (4) was or is observed foraging in the inner 

 bay area during the steelhead run between 1 January 

 and 31 May 1996. The revisions also removed the 

 requirement for captive holding of predatory sea lions. 



No sea lions were lethally removed from the 

 Ballard Locks area during the 1996 winter steelhead 

 run; however, three animals thought to be the primary 

 cause of the predation were captured and removed to 

 permanent captivity at Sea World in Orlando, Florida. 



The Ballard Locks task force next met in Sep- 

 tember 1996 to review information on the 1996 winter 

 steelhead run and evaluate the effectiveness of permit- 

 ted intentional lethal taking of individually identified 

 sea lions. The task force concluded that, although no 

 lethal takes had occurred, because of the long-term 

 nature of fish stock recovery, it saw no reason to 

 change its previous recommendations. The task force 

 recommended, among other things, that, if requested, 

 the Service should extend the authorization to the 

 Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to 

 lethally take sea lions at the Ballard Locks. Further, 

 the task force concluded that it saw little need for 

 further deliberation until substantive new information 

 and analyses are available. 



As noted above, the State of Washington's authori- 

 zation for lethal removal of sea lions at the Ballard 

 Locks was to expire on 30 June 1997. By Federal 

 Register notice of 19 June 1997 the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service solicited comments on a request by 

 the state to extend the authorization to 30 June 2005. 

 An eight-year extension was sought to encompass two 

 complete steelhead life cycles, thus giving the state 

 time to determine whether efforts to promote recovery 

 of the steelhead population had been successful. 



In its notice, the Service stated that (1) no sea lions 

 had been removed, either temporarily or permanently, 

 from the Ballard Locks area during the authorized 

 period (1 January to 30 May) in 1997; (2) it proposed 

 to extend the state's letter of authorization for a period 

 of four to eight years; and (3) pending a final decision 

 on an extension, it had issued an interim extension of 

 the current authorization through 30 September 1997. 



On 29 September 1997 the Service announced in 

 the Federal Register that, based on recommendations 

 by a majority of the Ballard Locks task force, it was 

 extending the State of Washington's letter of authori- 

 zation for the lethal removal of sea lions for four 

 years, until 30 June 2001. No other changes were 

 made to the terms and conditions of the authorization. 



During 1998 no incidents involving sea lion 

 predation on steelhead were observed in the Ballard 

 Locks area although one untagged animal was seen 

 foraging on coho salmon. Steelhead salmon escape- 

 ment has increased from 70 in 1994, to 126 in 1995, 

 234 in 1996, 620 in 1997, and 584 in 1998. This last 

 number is significant because the run is the progeny 

 of the 1994 year class. Pending new developments, 

 the Ballard Locks task force has been suspended, and 

 no further action is planned. The National Marine 

 Fisheries Service continues to monitor the situation. 



Willamette River — In recent years, California 

 sea lions have been observed in the lower Willamette 

 River in Oregon during the winter/spring months 

 coinciding with the migration of chinook and steelhead 

 salmon. In addition, observers from the Oregon 

 Department of Fish and Wildlife have documented sea 

 lions foraging on salmon near fishway entrances at 

 Willamette Falls during the peak salmon runs. 

 During this period, the river's spring chinook and 

 winter steelhead populations — the only native sal- 

 monid populations above the falls — have declined, 

 raising concern about the potential effects of sea lion 

 predation on those stocks. 



By Federal Register notice of 13 March 1997 the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service requested com- 

 ments on a draft environmental assessment concerning 

 interactions between California sea lions and salmon 

 at the Willamette Falls fish passage facility. The draft 

 assessment addressed the potential consequences of a 

 proposal by the Service and the Oregon Department of 

 Fish and Wildlife for the non-lethal removal of sea 

 lions at the Willamette Falls site. The joint proposal 

 also included plans for a monitoring program to 

 document the extent of predation and efforts to 

 identify additional sea lion deterrence measures. 



On 2 January 1998 the Service published a notice 

 in the Federal Register announcing the availability of 



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