With federal approvals in hand, the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho are scurrying to complete details of a plan to pluck California sea lions from their Columbia River salmon gravy train as early as next month, and slate them for either execution or captive residence in faraway zoos and aquariums.

"Our top priority is to place as many animals as we can in appropriate facilities," said Guy Norman, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife regional director for southwest Washington. "Lethal removal is the option of last resort, but the federal government has determined the problem to be significant enough to authorize the states to use it to protect these threatened salmon and steelhead populations."

NOAA-Fisheries, which must approve such transfers, is in contact with a number of facilities interested in accepting California sea lions that will be trapped by the states. Sea World officials have said they'd take as many as a dozen healthy animals in an attempt to refresh its California sea lion population's gene pool. At least four other zoos and aquariums have also expressed interest, according to Robin Brown, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's lead marine mammal biologist.

NOAA announced this week it is granting authorization requested by the states to permanently remove up to 85 California sea lions each year that are eating salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act, as well as other fishes. The authorization is allowed under Section 120 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

A growing number of sea lions are congregating each year in spring below Bonneville Dam, feasting on salmon and steelhead that are moving up the Columbia River to spawn.

The NOAA action stipulates that the states can only remove California sea lions if they have been individually identified through markings; have been documented feeding on salmon or steelhead and have resisted deterrence efforts. It allows removal of as many as 85 animals annually, but NOAA estimates that only about 30 animals will be removed each year, given the conditions in its authorization.

For the past three years, WDFW, ODFW and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have used flares, rubber bullets and other non-lethal measures in an effort to deter California sea lions, and they will continue to do so as a requirement of the lethal removal authorization. But despite the efforts, Corps research has documented an increasing rate of predation by sea lions immediately below Bonneville, located 145 miles upstream from the river mouth.

Under the authorization, the states may shoot or capture and remove individually identified sea lions preying on salmon below the dam. The appendix to NOAA's authorization letter includes a list of 61 specific sea lions, identified through ongoing research, that meet criteria for "immediate removal."

Those animals:

-- have been observed eating salmonids in the "observation area" below Bonneville Dam between Jan. 1 and May 31 of any year; and

-- have been observed in the observation area below Bonneville Dam on a total of any five days (consecutive days, days within a single season, or days over multiple years) between Jan. 1 and May 31 of any year; and

-- have been sighted in the observation area below Bonneville Dam after they have been subjected to active non-lethal deterrence.

NOAA's authorization letter says qualifying sea lions that are captured in a trap must be held in a temporary holding facility for at least 48 hours prior to being euthanized pending a determination of the availability of pre-approved permanent holding facilities such as zoos or aquarium to accept the animal.

Free-ranging individually identifiable predatory sea lions may be shot by a qualified marksman when hauled out on the concrete apron along the North side of Cascade Island, on the flow deflectors along the base of the dam's spillway, or in the water within 50 feet of the concrete apron or the face of the dam at power houses one and two.

Sharon Young of the Humane Society of the United States noted that allowing the pinnipeds to be shot in the water is an unsavory addition to the plan which NOAA acknowledges could result in some animals being wounded, but not killed. The HSUS has opposed the lethal removal proposal from the start, saying the salmon-sea lion interaction is a natural one and that humans by far pose the biggest threat to the survival of imperiled salmon stocks.

NOAA's Garth Griffin said that that could indeed happen, but that the agency felt the states would take extreme care to carry out the removals "as humanely as possible."

"They asked for this and we did our due diligence," Griffin said of the process required by the MMPA and other federal statutes. That included a review of potential impacts to the environment – including the sea lions, the economy and public safety. The final Environment Assessment of the proposal was also released this week. It expanded the shooting option from one included in a draft EA released in January for public comment.

"We thought we made a well thought out decision," Griffin said of NOAA's consideration of the application.

The ball is now in the states' court. The WDFW begins accepting public comments today (Friday) on the proposal as defined by NOAA. The comment period is part of a required environmental review under the State Environmental Policy Act. Comments will be accepted through April 4 and can be submitted via email (SEPAdesk2@dfw.wa.gov) or mailed to Teresa Eturaspe, SEPA coordinator, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA.

An internal review of the proposal and comments will determine whether or not the plan would have a significant impact. The EA completed by NOAA concluded that the action would not significantly impact the human environment.

Completion of the Washington SEPA process would coincide with completion of three floating traps that are now under construction, Brown said. The ODFW last year tested the viability of using traps at Bonneville, bringing upriver a trap that has been used at Astoria near the river mouth.

The test was successful so ODFW plans to deploy four traps at Bonneville this year to capture and brand unmarked animals so they can be easily identified and potentially euthanized. A specially outfitted barge is also on the way that will allow that branding to take place on site.

"We've got a number of things we need to do" before launching the operation, Brown said. Discussions are ongoing with federal, state and tribal enforcement entities on topics of public safety, and carrying out the shooting option. Talks include the Columbia Basin Law Enforcement Council, which includes as members Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fisheries Enforcement; Oregon State Police; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Idaho Department of Fish and Game; Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks; Shoshone-Bannock Tribes; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation; Nez Perce Tribe.

"They say they do have people that are expert marksmen" that could potentially be called into the breech, Brown said.

The states will implement specific safety measures and form an animal-care committee, approved by NOAA, to advise on standards for humanely capturing, holding and killing predatory sea lions.

Researchers estimate that sea lions consumed at least 4 percent of returning adult fish at Bonneville in last year during the March-May period. No data is available regarding predation on salmon for that 145-mile stretch of river below the dam.

Biologists also note that sea lions injure fish, as well as kill them. According to observers, monitoring salmon and steelhead migrating past the dam, fish with scars from sea lions have increased from 11 percent in 1999 to 37 percent in 2005. Close to a third of the salmon and steelhead eaten by the sea lions are from stocks listed under the ESA and considered important for the survival of the species.

As part of the marine mammal law's requirements, NOAA's Fisheries Service convened a special task force last fall to make recommendations about the states' request. All member of that 18-member panel showed some level of support for lethal removal -- except Young.

Federal review of the states' request also included a 30-day public comment period on the draft EA, produced in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act. The federal environmental review considered the environmental consequences of alternative actions designed to reduce sea lion predation below Bonneville Dam on salmon and steelhead listed as threatened and endangered under the ESA. The final EA includes responses to the comments received.

WDFW will consider comments received during its own environmental review before issuing its SEPA determination, scheduled for release April 7.

Coastwide, the California sea lion population has grown since the 1970s, and is now estimated to be at least 238,000 animals. Wildlife managers estimate that up to 1,000 California sea lions forage each year between the mouth of the Columbia River and Bonneville Dam.

In 2002, the USACE observed 31 individual sea lions consume 1,010 salmon and steelhead below the dam, accounting for 0.4 percent of the fish destined for the upper Columbia River system. Last year, sea lions consumed nearly 4,000 salmon and steelhead, representing 4.2 percent of the spring run..

For the past four years, up to 100 individual California sea lions annually have been observed feeding below the dam, most during peak salmon runs in April and May. An adult California sea lion typically eats 5 to 7 salmon a day.

"The situation below Bonneville Dam is out of balance, with an abundant predator species heavily impacting protected fish populations," said Norman. "We have a responsibility to protect threatened salmon and steelhead from increasing predation."

Norman emphasized that sea lion predation will require a continuing control effort.

"This problem has been growing since 2001, and we don't expect to remedy it in a single year," he said. The authorization is for three years, with the possibility of a five-year extension.

The states are required develop and implement a monitoring plan to evaluate: 1) the impacts of predation, 2) the effectiveness of non-lethal deterrence, and 3) the effectiveness of permanent removal of individually identifiable predatory sea lions as a method to reduce adult salmonid mortality.

After the third year of sea lion removals (in June of 2011), the states and NMFS must determine whether observed salmonid predation rate has fallen below 1 percent of the observed fish passage at the dam. If so, no lethal removal is authorized for the following year.

This authorization may be modified or revoked by NMFS at any time with 72 hours notice.

Public documents relating to the authorization, including the Federal Register language and letter of authorization to the states are available online at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Seals-and-Sea-Lions/Sec-120-Authority.cfm

For more information about Columbia River sea lions, see WDFW's website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/sealions/index.htm.

NOAA Fisheries Service: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov