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thousands of commercial fishing vessels and in spite of millions of 

 marine anglers. Fishing on the West Coast is not preventing the 

 growth of marine mammal populations. 



The symptoms in our region of the Nation of this abundance in 

 marine mammals are numerous. Sea lions force California charter 

 boats to abandon their traditional fishing grounds. Marine 

 mammal teeth marks occur on 40 to 50 percent of the spring Chi- 

 nook salmon ascending the fish ladders at dams on our troubled 

 Columbia River with its endangered species of salmon. Harbor 

 seals are so dense in Puget Sound that their feces have contaminat- 

 ed shellfish beds resulting in closures of fisheries to protect public 

 health. Tribal gill nets in Washington lose 30 to 50 percent of their 

 fall Chinook salmon catch to harbor seals, and anglers in southwest 

 Washington lose up to 60 percent of their troll-hooked fish. Sea 

 lions are now impacting urban anglers upriver from Portland 125 

 miles from the ocean, and Herschel's buddies, the sea lions at the 

 Ballard Locks, will likely terminate the run of wild steelhead. 



These problems result because part of our society so feverishly 

 embraces protectionism. As a nation, haven't we learned from the 

 overprotection of elk in Yellowstone Park? And haven't we learned 

 from the overprotection of the wild horses? The government thins 

 the horse herds with expensive adoption programs. Can you imag- 

 ine an adoption program for California sea lions? 



The Act, as written, could be implemented more liberally, but, 

 instead, its implementation is deliberately and unrealistically lop- 

 sided toward protection. For example, the regulations to implement 

 the Act's definition of harassment includes deterrence as a form of 

 harassment. In other words, citizens are prohibited from simply 

 chasing marine mammals away. And recent regulations have tried 

 to prohibit the public from feeding any marine mammals, and they 

 have proposed further restriction on whale-watching activity. 



And after two decades of the Act, no State wants to accept man- 

 agement authority for mammals because it has been made too bur- 

 densome, too costly, and too restrictive of wildlife management op- 

 tions. And only 6 of 64 stocks of marine mammals are listed as 

 OSP. Why so few? Gray whales and California sea lions are at or 

 near historic levels, but the government fails to declare them re- 

 covered. And the Federal agencies who manage our resources have 

 not proposed any legislative or regulatory solution to the conflicts 

 we experience on the West Coast. 



Now, for us, relative to the MMPA — we believe the roof is begin- 

 ning to leak on that statute by the unnatural circumstances this 

 type of protection creates, and we have seven solutions. One, ac- 

 knowledge that nothing in the Act is intended to abrogate treaty 

 Indian rights so tribes can proceed with co-management of the 

 mammal stocks. Two, provide an avenue for our West Coast states 

 to help research and manage these populations. It is obvious that 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service alone is not getting it done. 



Three, allow citizens the right to chase marine mammals away 

 from docks, sport boats, et cetera, without having to get some kind 

 of Federal permit. Four, allow governmental officials to lethally 

 remove nuisance animals when they threaten valuable living 

 marine resources. Five, continue to allow commercial fishermen to 

 take depleted animals and the right to protect their gear and 



