To protect endangered Northwest salmon, the National Marine Fisheries Service suggests giving Oregon and Washington state officials the authority to kill sea lions, which last year gobbled up more than 4 percent of the salmon running through the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam. The action would likely result in about 30 sea lion deaths a year. The federal agency is taking public comment through Feb. 19 on its recommendation and three alternatives: taking no action, using nonlethal weapons to deter sea lions (which has so far been ineffective), and killing all of the 150 or so sea lions within five miles of the dam.
