Lawmakers look to stop sea lions from eating salmon in Columbia River

Pacific Northwest sea lions got the spotlight in a congressional hearing last week.

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Natural Resources spent nearly two and a half hours Wednesday debating the long-standing issue of the Columbia River sea lions, who are known to feast on the salmon that swim down and upriver.

It wasn’t great news for the sea lions, as the debate centered primarily around how best to kill the pinnipeds.

The hearing featured testimony from Aja DeCoteau, executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fishing Commission, who urged the committee to expand efforts to remove the animals and research the problem, The Columbian reported.

“Historically, our elders remember an occasional sea lion reaching Celilo Falls,” DeCoteau said at the hearing. “However,