Seals and sea lions are killing even more adult salmon in the Columbia River than previously thought, according to a federal fisheries agency.
Preliminary results of research by the National Marine Fisheries Service that began in 2010 show a steady increase in fish mortality over a five-year period that may be attributable to seals and sea lions. Adult salmon returning from the ocean to the Columbia River Basin are being killed by seals and sea lions between the estuary and Bonneville Dam in “alarming numbers,” according to the agency.
This year, the average spring Chinook salmon survival was just 55 percent, down from 69 percent in 2013 and 82 percent in 2012, according to a news release from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
“Even I have a hard time believing those numbers, but at least through 2013, estimates of fish mortality do fall within theoretical estimates of predation,” lead researcher Dr. Michelle Wargo-Rub said in the release. Wargo-Rub presented the information to the council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee this week in Portland.
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