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Stop Sea Lion Killing Plan

Target: National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Resources
Sponsored by: Care2

The National Marine Fisheries Service recently authorized the killing of up to 85 federally protected sea lions this year at the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River in Oregon.

Federal and state officials claim they have to kill sea lions to protect endangered salmon. But sea lions are not the main threat to endangered salmon on the Columbia river - dams, habitat loss and humans are.

Consider the facts:

Sea lions kill between 0.4% and 4.2% of salmon and steelhead returning to the Columbia River each year;
Federal dams on the Snake River kill over 15% of returning steelhead and salmon adults each year;
Oregon and Washington states, which requested permission to kill sea lions, proposed increasing fishing quotas from 9% to 12% of the 2008 salmon run.

A federal judge is set to rule on this plan on May 8th, and until then no sea lions may be killed. Yet six federally protected sea lions were just found shot to death on the Columbia River at Bonneville Dam. Make sure no more sea lions die - tell NMFS to abandon its plan to allow killing of sea lions on the Columbia River!

Learn more from the Humane Society of the United States, Wild Fish Conservancy and Save Our Wild Salmon.

deadline: Ongoing...
goal: 10,000

3,631
signatures!

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Let NMFS know why you oppose their plan to kill sea lions in the name of protecting salmon:

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To Ms. Donna Darm,
Assistant Regional Administrator,
Protected Resources Division, NMFS

I just learned that six federally protected sea lions were found killed on the Columbia River even though a federal judge issued a stay of execution for sea lions with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. I urge you to immediately repeal your agency's approval of a plan to kill up to 85 sea lions this year at Bonneville Dam.

Sea lions are not the primary cause of salmon decline in the Columbia River and Pacific Northwest. In fact, sea lions kill 4.2% or less of returning salmon and steelhead each year. Dams along the Columbia and Snake Rivers kill over 15% of returning adult salmon and steelhead, and the incidental take allowance is currently 9%.

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Sincerely,
[Your name here]

We took action on “Stop Sea Lion Killing Plan”!

# 3,200:

11:49 am PDT, Jun 14, Frances M. Amaya, Texas
Two wrongs never make a right. Salmon should be protected by not building any more dams or destroying their habitats. Killing sea lions to stop them from eating fish is damaging to the very food chain and ecosystem you are supposedly trying to protect!

# 3,199:

3:20 pm PDT, Jun 13, Nicky Vugcic, Serbia And Montenegro
I love all animals and I want the next generation to have the oportunity to love them too!Becouse animals are Joy Of The World (at least animal lovers Joy!)!!!!

# 3,198:

5:33 am PDT, Jun 13, Marlena Alo, Guam

# 3,197:

4:08 am PDT, Jun 13, Jane Sunshine, New York

# 3,196:

9:05 am PDT, Jun 12, Angela Cochran, Kentucky

# 3,195:

8:26 am PDT, Jun 12, Kimberly Tilley, Idaho

# 3,194:

11:12 pm PDT, Jun 11, Denise Alvera, Illinois

# 3,193:

7:09 pm PDT, Jun 11, Jackson Ly, California
Over three times as many salmon are killed by dams along the Columbia and Snake Rivers than are killed by sea lions. It is against human dignity to cause another living creature to suffer needlessly or die.

# 3,192:

10:37 am PDT, Jun 11, Name not displayed, Illinois

# 3,191:

10:37 am PDT, Jun 11, Regina Lankford, Virginia

# 3,190:

8:27 am PDT, Jun 11, Sara Smith, Connecticut

# 3,189:

8:44 pm PDT, Jun 10, Jennifer Beeman, Washington
The solution to protecting salmon is to cut down on fishing and probably on dams, not kill a their predators. Please fix the problem by correcting the cause (dams and overfishing) not by attempting to cull other species.

# 3,188:

8:42 pm PDT, Jun 10, Kristin McCord, Texas

# 3,187:

6:17 pm PDT, Jun 10, Eileen Cooper, Kansas

# 3,186:

4:48 pm PDT, Jun 10, Kathy Steinert, Florida
I understand the need to protect salmon but the sea lion is a higher form of life - a beautiful, playful animal. Please reconsider this matter. Killing sea lions to save the salmon is not the answer.

# 3,185:

4:10 pm PDT, Jun 10, Nancy Voorspoels, Belgium

# 3,184:

7:34 am PDT, Jun 10, Mona Hanes-Troxell, Pennsylvania
These animals have every right to be by the dam. Who are we to make this decision to kill these animals when all they are doing is what nature intended. They need to eat too. Stop this injustice please.

# 3,183:

7:12 am PDT, Jun 10, Laura Cooper, Alabama

# 3,182:

1:40 pm PDT, Jun 8, Amber Verduin, Iowa

# 3,181:

11:55 am PDT, Jun 8, Victoria Wintermyer, Maryland

# 3,180:

9:32 am PDT, Jun 8, Barbara Bunton, Texas

# 3,179:

8:37 am PDT, Jun 8, Clara Burton, Michigan

# 3,178:

8:44 pm PDT, Jun 7, Kerry Helfner, Indiana

# 3,177:

7:10 pm PDT, Jun 7, Name not displayed, Canada
This is the complete opposite of solving the problem. You are meerly creating a new problem for humanity. Instead of protecting salmon you just helped sealions get that much closer to extinction. Congratulations. The real root of the salmon problem isnt the sealions , its us. We need to start taking care of our resources because if we dont they will soon run out. Our resources are irreplacable, so we must protect them. Decrease the fishing and selling of salmon and help protect them. Do not blame innocent sealions who have been feeding on their natural diet for centuries.

# 3,176:

3:53 pm PDT, Jun 7, James Klich II, North Carolina
This will not solve the problem.

# 3,175:

1:41 pm PDT, Jun 7, Nadine Knobloch, Germany

# 3,174:

9:28 pm PDT, Jun 6, Sara Lawrence, Missouri

# 3,173:

3:04 pm PDT, Jun 6, Mark Kiernan, Italy

# 3,172:

2:07 pm PDT, Jun 6, Leonda Mocanu, Massachusetts

# 3,171:

11:16 am PDT, Jun 6, Susannah Lopez, California

# 3,170:

9:18 am PDT, Jun 6, Rosie Nicholson, United Kingdom

# 3,169:

1:13 am PDT, Jun 6, Terri Ybarbo, Texas

# 3,168:

12:07 am PDT, Jun 6, Sonja BONFILS, France

# 3,167:

8:25 pm PDT, Jun 5, Stephanie Brake, New York

# 3,166:

5:14 pm PDT, Jun 5, Tracy Harris, Tennessee

# 3,165:

4:06 pm PDT, Jun 5, Amanda Driscoll, Florida
This is against the animals natural rights. One life taken does not save another.

# 3,164:

2:43 pm PDT, Jun 5, Name not displayed, New York

# 3,163:

1:38 pm PDT, Jun 5, Ines Seidel, Germany

# 3,162:

12:02 pm PDT, Jun 5, Michele Peterson, Ohio

# 3,161:

6:31 am PDT, Jun 5, Staci O. Zarra, Florida
It's a screwed up world when sealions are being punished for eating fish.

# 3,160:

6:28 am PDT, Jun 5, Linda Marasco, Florida

# 3,159:

12:48 am PDT, Jun 5, ELAINE ROBINSON, United Kingdom

# 3,158:

4:15 pm PDT, Jun 4, Dara Lazar, Georgia

# 3,157:

3:08 pm PDT, Jun 4, Amanda Walker, North Carolina

# 3,156:

10:55 am PDT, Jun 4, Allen Huggins, Wisconsin

# 3,155:

10:33 am PDT, Jun 4, Joyce Turner, Pennsylvania

# 3,154:

6:39 am PDT, Jun 4, Ingrid Marx, Wisconsin

# 3,153:

6:31 am PDT, Jun 4, Doris Schoning, Ohio
I oppose this because they are not not the cause of Salmon decline. Fish and other species are declining because of man. The building of dams, the over fishing everywhere in the world, changing and destroying their breeding habitats and changing the flow of rivers. What is wrong with people? Are they all just on a killing spree. God help us before we destroy the very world and we live in.

# 3,152:

8:23 pm PDT, Jun 3, Morgan Griffith, California

# 3,151:

5:33 pm PDT, Jun 3, Misty Mena, Florida

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