Jaimie Saving the Salmon

Salmon returning to the Columbia River

Bipartisan Legislation for Salmon

• Senate legislation S. 3119, was signed into law December 2018

“A growing sea lion population in the Columbia River poses one of the biggest threats to our wild salmon and steelhead runs. I successfully led passage of a bipartisan bill through Congress, the Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act, which the president signed into law in December of 2018. This historic effort will improve the survival of endangered salmon, steelhead and other native fish species in the Columbia River system by protecting them from sea lion predation. …We have already seen results of fish runs rebounding after the careful removal of sea lions in nearby Willamette Falls.”

“Since 2006 California sea lions have been kegging up at the falls and eating an alarming number of the steelhead, which are federally listed as an endangered species. In 2017 only 822 steelhead made it past the sea lions. The run was calculated to have an 89 percent chance of going extinct.

The number of steelhead passing the falls rose to 3,202 in spring of 2019, https://web.archive.org/web/20220205074426/https:/www.columbian.com/news/2019/dec/26/removal-of-sea-lions-clears-way-for-willamette-wild-winter-steelhead/?fbclid=IwAR1gVUo2p0CzR69B3dmwCRG0G7urOpQQRg8PxkEDnWhCnvDfB_DxH3tRWQY