Panel Oks Killing Sea Lions

A federal advisory panel has tentatively agreed to recommend killing sea lions at the Ballard Locks as a way to save migrating steelhead salmon.

If the National Marine Fisheries Service accepts Friday’s recommendation, the state could capture and kill the sea lions with fewer restrictions. But a court challenge seems likely before the policy is implemented.

Steelhead pass through the locks and an adjacent fish ladder to reach Lake Washington and the streams where they spawn. Sea lions that gather below the locks find the fish easy pickings and have helped decimate the run.

Because the animals are pro tected under the federal Marine Mammals Protection Act, NMFS must give permission for them to be killed. The federal agency has done so, but only under strict conditions. No sea lions have been killed at the locks so far.

If NMFS adopts the sea lion task force’s new recommendations, the state no longer would have to first determine that sea lions had eaten 10 percent of the run during a given period. If known predators returned to the area between Everett and the locks, they could be killed.