Three years of ‘non-lethal hazing’ process could not succeed in protecting the endangered salmon below Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River from the California sea lions dining on them.
In the ‘non-lethal hazing’ process the California sea lions have been blasted either with rubber buckshot, or chased by boats, or at times they were harassed by firecrackers and rockets, also subjecting to irritating acoustic frequencies that are made to blare from underwater speakers.
But now, Washington State, Oregon and Idaho together think that the stage has come to utter death sentence to the sea lions. On the basis of this reason and concern, they together have asked for permission to kill more than 80 sea lions a year!
What has the nature been doing since both the species’ existence began on the planet? If this food chain system needed human intervention, many more such species would not just have dwindled, but disappeared from the planet long before human existence on Earth.
To expedite the request, it was in late March in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Legislation was introduced. The battle between the killing of 400-pound bull sea lions and saving the thousands of salmon heading upstream to spawn has given birth to important allies.
While on one side, the salmon is backed by the three Northwest states, the region’s Indian tribes and four members of Congress belonging to the region. The sea lions on the other hand, are backed by the United States’ 10 million-member Humane Society.
Keeping fingers crossed to see – whether the salmon thrives or the sea lions are sentenced to death. Can’t there be a third option to just leave the nature’s creation to itself to handle, as it has been doing since the time humans – not to mention of their know-how – existed on earth? Do the species really need this overt soothsaying from us?