HSUS Again Sues to Stop the Columbia River Sea Lion Cull

The Humane Society of the United States has returned to court in attempt to stop the sea lion cull near the Bonneville Dam in Washington and Oregon.

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Hundreds of sea lions may be trapped and killed in a program aiming to increase the salmon population in the river. The animal welfare group argues that the NOAA Fisheries Service has not sufficiently explained why the sea lions are being singled out despite other predators (like humans) having a greater impact on the salmon population.

“To accept the agency’s view of administrative law would, for example, allow the Social Security Administration to grant benefits to a person that suffers from a 4 percent disability despite, and without ever explaining, numerous past decisions denying such benefits for people that suffer from a 15 to 20 percent disability,” read the brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The group points out the hypocrisy of increasing the commercial salmon catch from 9 to 12 percent of the run in 2012, but then turning around and killing sea lions, which are responsible for only .4 to 4.2 percent.

More details about the suit can be found at the Columbia Basin Fish & Wildlife News.

Photo Credit: tracy the astonishing on Flickr under Creative Commons license.

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