The White House is expressing support for a House Democrat’s bill that would make it easier for people to kill seals in the Pacific Northwest.
H.R. 6927, the Protecting Columbia River Salmon Act, from Washington Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, would make it easier for Native American tribes to remove sea lions from certain parts of the Columbia River. The animals are covered by the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Congress approved legislation in 2018 making it easier for states and tribes to kill sea lions that congregate near dams and other areas to scarf up migrating salmon, but critics say the rules remain too restrictive.
“I have local fishermen telling me that nearly every salmon they pull out of the river have wounds from sea lions,” Gluesenkamp Perez said in a statement about the bill.
