Hungry sea lions may be killed

Traps, pyrotechnics and bean bags shot at sea lions have failed to deter the annual springtime feast of threatened salmon at a Columbia River dam, so federal authorities gave some of them a death sentence.

The National Marine Fisheries Service authorized officials to attempt to catch the sea lions that arrive at the base of the Bonneville Dam and hold them for 48 hours to see whether an aquarium or zoo would take them. Otherwise, they could be euthanized along with those that avoid trapping.

John Balzar, spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States, said the idea that sea lions must be killed to save salmon was “entirely bogus.” He said fishermen caught three times as many salmon as the sea lions ate.