Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Agreement postpones killing of sea lions at Oregon Dam
This article was found on the CNN website and discusses the problem of the California sea lions located at a dam on the Columbia River. The issue that the states of the Pacific Northwest (Washington and Oregon) have with the sea lions is that while the sea lions are located at the dam they are able to eat many of the endangered salmon that make their runs up the Columbia. Due to the threat of the sea lions on the salmon many people are pushing for the sea lions to be either captured or killed. However, the Humane Society doesn't think this to be fair and would rather see the sea lions moved into zoos or marine theme parks. While the salmon are protected by the Endangered Species Act, the sea lions are also protected by an act, the Marine Mammals Act. It would not be justified to say the sea lions must be killed because they are disrupting an endangered species, because we would just be killing other animals protected by acts when we killed teh California sea lions.
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3 comments:
This article is very disturbing to me, and I am almost positive that it would be disturbing to many other readers who have any sense of compassion. Legislation for the killing of sea lions as a form of removal is absurd. No legislation should give the right to kill any animal, unless it is endangering the lives of humans. And even then, that is debatable. Yes, the article does make a clear point that the salmon populations, which are endangered, are being noticeably threatened by the predation of the sea lions, which were once but no longer endangered. However, there seems to be many other alternative solutions to this problem other than legal killing of these animals, including those suggested by the Human Society. These solutions, such as capturing and moving the sea lions to zoos and other marine habitats, do not seem too difficult, even though they may take a little more effort. But isn't that effort worth it if you are saving a sea lions life?
Maybe this article could have been written in another way in order to highlight the fact that the killing of sea lions to protect the salmon isn't as bad as one would automatically assume. However, the cold hard facts relayed in this article make me, and I'm sure many other readers, appalled at the cruel and inhumane acts taken by the local government to fix this problem.
It seems like such a simple solution to relocate them, but then again it also raises the question of captivity vs. leaving them in their natural environments. At least it illustrated the effect of active involvement and appealing legislatures I’m not as disturbed by the killing solution, but I wonder about the cost benefit ratios of hunting the sea lions vs. keeping the animals alive and moving them to zoos or other locations, all this under the bigger picture of the profitable salmon market. Also, Emily makes a good point about regressing in terms of protecting the sea lion population. Furthermore, I like the presentation of the fact that “‘significant negative impact’ hasn't been established” as the argument raised by the Humane Society in the article. Although I don’t know the economic situation in Oregon, my first read of the 4% consummation of salmon that the sea lions are responsible for didn’t seem significant enough for to open hunting season. I didn’t have the same inhumane thoughts in reading the article, and this shows how information and communication can be interpreted in different ways.
The salmon and sea lions are both protected by Acts, creating a difficult issue in deciding how to save the salmon without killing the sea lions. The article surfaces the gray area of what is right and wrong in this situation. While some people are pushing for the killing of the sea lions, in attempt to save the endangered salmon, others want to choose an alternative solution—but what exactly would that solution be? The article deals with conflicted sides, because the salmon should be saved, but in a way that does not harm the sea lions. It would not be fair to kill the sea lions when they too are protected. Maybe there is a way that we could relocate the sea lions to another environment in which they could still thrive in; a place where they could comfortably live without disrupting the salmon population. Bringing them to zoos is another possible solution, however, there is the issue of having enough space and whether it is right to bring them into captivity. I believe relocation is the best solution but that there would have to be careful research and predictions on the place they would be relocated to. This way, they could still live in the wild without seriously harming the population of another species.
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