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Scientists on the Recovery Team for the threatened and 

 endangered Columbia River salmon now ask if the hoards of 

 harbor Baals at the mouth of the Columbia are impacting 

 these critical runs. Anthropologist Franz Boas, who did 

 ground breaking fieldwork among Native Americans of the 

 Northwest Coast in the late 19th Century witnessed 

 "drives to oapture and harpoon sea lions down to the 

 sea". The purpose of such seal drives was to prevent 

 these aquatic carnivores from interfering with Indian 

 fishing efforts during the annual salmon runs, which were 

 their primary source of food. 



Beginning in 1991 urban sport fishermen began to interact 

 with California sea lions 26 miles up the Willamette 

 River, a tributary of the Columbia River and about 125 

 miles upstream from the ooean. 



In 1990, NMFS scientists documented that an estimated 40 

 to 50 percent of the observed adult spring Chinook salmon 

 ascending the fish ladder at Lower Granite Dam (Columbia 

 River) had teeth marks and scars caused by either harbor 

 seals or California or California sea lions. The number 

 of fish that did not escape their predators is not known. 



Harbor seal numbers are so dense in southern Puget Sound 

 that their feces have contaminated shellfish growing 

 beds. The Washington Department of Health has been 

 forced to close sites in Dosewallips State Park to 

 shellfish harvesting for the protection of ths public 

 health. 



California nsarshore gillnet fisheries for halibut and 

 sea bass suffer up to 80 percent loss of catch in some 

 areas during certain seasons, as harbor seals strip fish 

 from nets. 



In California, and increasingly in Washington, sea otters 

 are eliminating harvestable shellfish resources upon 

 which people also rely (clams, crabs, abalone, and sea 

 urchins) . Without long-term zonal management (zones for 

 otters and zones for people) the West Coast will find 

 itself without shellfish fisheries (The sea urchin 

 fishery in California alone is an $80 million export to 

 Japan) . 



At the mouth of the Elwha River in the Strait of Juan de 

 Fuca, tribal gillnet and set net fishermen have lost 30- 

 50 percent of their fall Chinook catch to harbor seals. 

 Also, non-Indian sport fishermen report big populations 

 of harbor seals taking large Chinook from their lines. 



