$20k Reward Money Up For Finding Boat Operator Who Drove Over California Sea Lions in the Columbia River

For information leading to charges against the Columbia River boat operator who was seen on camera earlier this month near Hayden Island driving through California sea lions, federal authorities have offered a reward of up to $20,000.

On April 3, just off Hayden Island, a bystander recorded a video of the boater appearing to target groups of sleeping sea lions. The boat was a 19 to 20-foot aluminum Sea Runner with a dark blue stripe, according to the authorities. It has a soft top, a Yamaha outboard motor, and an aluminum Barewest Fish & Wake Tower.

Anyone with knowledge of the boater's identity or who recognizes the boat is urged to call NOAA agents at 360-310-0259 or the 24-hour hotline at 800-853-1964, according to the authorities.

California Sea Lions are a Protected Species

According to the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement, it will pay for information that results in a fine or a criminal conviction. The Marine Mammal Protection Act, which forbids harassing animals, protects California sea lions.

They are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, just like all other marine mammals. Since 1975, when the MMPA's protections were put in place, their population has been growing.

The California sea lion is protected, according to the NOAA Fisheries, through cooperative management and various channels. NOAA scientists employ cutting-edge methods to observe, safeguard, and save California sea lions that are in danger, such as those that are stranded or trapped in nets. Through systems based on scientific data and public input and outreach, the team's work assists in reducing harm from human activities such as fishing and pollution.

Sea Lion Management

The incident served as a stark illustration of the hostility that exists between recreational fishermen and sea lions, which are attracted to fish populations. Salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest have plummeted as sea lion populations have recovered. Only approved, nonlethal techniques can be used to deter sea lions and seals from preying on salmon, as seen by people who are actively fishing, The Oregonian reports.

Since fish and wildlife agencies were first granted Section 120 authorization to remove California sea lions found to be preying on salmon as well as steelhead below Bonneville Dam and at Willamette Falls, sea lion management in the Columbia River Basin has been ongoing for more than ten years.

But before 2020, the States were only able to relocate California sea lions at these two locations, and even then, only after documenting predation for years, ensuring that each sea lion met the requirements for removal, and making a significant effort with less drastic measures like relocation and hazing, which have largely failed.

Non-Lethal Strategies California Sea Lions

Exclusion gates that keep sea lions out of the fishways, years of hazing using pyrotechnics and rubber buckshot, and even long-distance relocation only had temporary mitigating effects were all initially tried to manage California sea lions seen at Willamette Falls. Since more than ten years ago, wildlife managers from Washington and Oregon, as well as federal and tribal partners, have been discouraging predatory sea lions in the vicinity of Bonneville Dam.

According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, despite all of these efforts, salmon predation by large populations of California and Steller sea lions has not been successfully reduced.