GRANTS PASS, Ore. – A federal appeals court has refused to block plans to start trapping and killing sea lions that eat endangered salmon at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Thursday it would not issue a stay sought by the Humane Society of the United States.

California sea lions are normally protected by federal law. But since some have discovered that salmon are easy pickings at the dam, NOAA Fisheries Service has given authority to the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho to kill up to 85 a year. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is ready to start trapping sea lions at Bonneville on Monday.