I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1769 

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to reduce predation 

on endangered Columbia River salmon, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 29, 2007 

Mr. BAIRD (for himself, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. DICKS, and Mr. 

WALDEN of Oregon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to 

reduce predation on endangered Columbia River salmon, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Endangered Salmon 

5 Predation Prevention Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) There are 13 groups of salmon and 

9 steelhead that are listed as threatened species or enmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 dangered species under the Endangered Species Act 

2 of 1973 that migrate through the lower Columbia 

3 River. 

4 (2) The people of the Northwest United States 

5 are united in their desire to restore healthy salmon 

6 and steelhead runs, as they are integral to the re7 gion’s culture and economy. 

8 (3) The Columbia River treaty tribes retain im9 portant rights with respect to salmon and steelhead. 

10 (4) Federal, State, and tribal governments have 

11 spent billions of dollars to assist the recovery of Co12 lumbia River salmon and steelhead populations. 

13 (5) One of the factors impacting salmonid pop14 ulations is increased predation by marine mammals, 

15 including California sea lions. 

16 (6) The population of California sea lions has 

17 increased 6-fold over the last 3 decades, and is cur18 rently greater than 300,000. 

19 (7) In recent years, over 1,000 California sea 

20 lions have been entering the lower 205 miles of the 

21 Columbia River up to Miller Island during the peak 

22 spring salmonid run before returning to the Cali23 fornia coast to mate. 

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1 (8) The percentage of the spring salmonid run 

2 that has been eaten or killed by California sea lions 

3 at Bonneville dam has increased 7-fold since 2002. 

4 (9) In recent years, California sea lions have 

5 with greater frequency congregated near Bonneville 

6 dam and have entered the fish ladders. 

7 (10) Some of these California sea lions have not 

8 been responsive to extensive hazing methods em9 ployed near Bonneville dam to discourage this be10 havior. 

11 (11) The process established under the 1994 

12 amendment to the Marine Mammal Protection Act 

13 of 1972 to address aggressive sea lion behavior is 

14 protracted and will not work in a timely enough 

15 manner to protect threatened and endangered 

16 salmonids in the near term. 

17 (12) In the interest of protecting Columbia 

18 River threatened and endangered salmonids, a tem19 porary expedited procedure is urgently needed to 

20 allow removal of the minimum number of California 

21 sea lions as is necessary to protect the passage of 

22 threatened and endangered salmonids in the Colum23 bia River or its tributaries. 

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1 SEC. 3. TAKING OF CALIFORNIA SEA LIONS ON THE COLUM2 BIA RIVER OR ITS TRIBUTARIES TO PROTECT 

3 ENDANGERED AND THREATENED SPECIES OF 

4 SALMON. 

5 (a) AMENDMENT TO MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION

6 ACT OF 1972.—Section 120 of the Marine Mammal Pro7 tection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1389) is amended by add8 ing at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(k) TEMPORARY MARINE MAMMAL REMOVAL AU10 THORITY ON THE WATERS OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER OR

11 ITS TRIBUTARIES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF ALTERNATIVE MEAS13 URES.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

15 determine whether alternative measures to re16 duce sea lion predation of salmonid stocks in 

17 the waters of the Columbia River or its tribu18 taries listed as threatened species or endan19 gered species under the Endangered Species 

20 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) ade21 quately protect the salmonid stocks from Cali22 fornia sea lion predation. 

23 ‘‘(B) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall 

24 make such determination not later than 90 days 

25 after the date of the enactment of this sub26 section. 

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1 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretary 

2 shall, within such 90-day period, provide up to 

3 30 days for the submission of public comments 

4 on the determination. 

5 ‘‘(D) FEDERAL REGISTER.—The Secretary 

6 shall publish the determination in the Federal 

7 Register. 

8 ‘‘(2) REMOVAL AUTHORITY.—In addition to 

9 other authority under this section, and notwith10 standing any other provision of this title, the Sec11 retary may issue a permit to an eligible entity au12 thorizing the intentional lethal taking on the waters 

13 of the Columbia River or its tributaries California 

14 sea lions if the Secretary determines under para15 graph (1) that alternative measures to reduce sea 

16 lion predation on salmonid stocks in such waters 

17 listed as threatened species or endangered species 

18 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

19 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) do not adequately protect the 

20 salmonid stocks from California sea lion predation. 

21 ‘‘(3) PERMIT PROCESS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity may 

23 apply to the Secretary of Commerce for a per24 mit under paragraph (2) authorizing the lethal 

25 taking of California sea lions. 

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1 ‘‘(B) DEADLINE FOR CONSIDERATION OF

2 APPLICATION.—The Secretary shall approve or 

3 deny an application for a permit under this sub4 section by not later than 30 days after receiving 

5 the application. 

6 ‘‘(C) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE MULTIPLE

7 PERMITS.—The Secretary may issue more than 

8 one permit under this subsection to an eligible 

9 entity. No more than one permit may be uti10 lized in any 14-day period by the same eligible 

11 entity. 

12 ‘‘(D) DURATION OF PERMITS.—A permit 

13 under this subsection shall be effective for no 

14 more than one year after the date it is issued. 

15 ‘‘(E) CONSULTATION.—In issuing a permit 

16 to an eligible entity, the Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) consult with other eligible entities 

18 and other such entities as the Secretary 

19 considers appropriate, including the Corps 

20 of Engineers; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) consider the number of other 

22 permits issued to other eligible entities in 

23 the same time period. 

24 ‘‘(F) REPORTS.—Not later than January 

25 31 following the end of each year in which a lemstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 thal taking occurs under a permit under this 

2 subsection, the Secretary shall publish a brief 

3 report describing the implementation of this 

4 subsection and the effect of all such takings in 

5 such year on Columbia River salmonid stocks 

6 and on the California sea lion population in the 

7 area where each taking occurs. 

8 ‘‘(4) LIMITATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) LIMITATION ON PERMIT AUTHOR10 ITY.—A permit issued under this subsection 

11 shall not authorize the lethal taking of more 

12 than 10 California sea lions. 

13 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON ANNUAL TAKINGS.— 

14 The cumulative number of California sea lions 

15 authorized to be taken each year under all per16 mits in effect under this subsection shall not ex17 ceed one percent of the annual potential biologi18 cal removal level of California sea lions. 

19 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION ON ANIMAL AUTHORIZED

20 TO BE TAKEN.— 

21 ‘‘(i) DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—A 

22 California sea lion may not be taken under 

23 a permit under this subsection unless the 

24 permit holder has determined that— 

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1 ‘‘(I) such sea lion has preyed 

2 upon salmonid stocks in the Columbia 

3 River; and 

4 ‘‘(II) with respect to such sea 

5 lion, nonlethal alternative measures to 

6 prevent preying on salmonid stocks 

7 have in general not been effective. 

8 ‘‘(ii) CONSULTATION.—In making 

9 such determination, the permit holder shall 

10 consult with the National Marine Fisheries 

11 Service, and may consult with any other 

12 Federal agency or eligible entity as appro13 priate. 

14 ‘‘(5) DELEGATION OF PERMIT AUTHORITY.— 

15 The State of Washington and the State of Oregon 

16 may each designate the Pacific States Marine Fish17 eries Commission to administer its permit authority 

18 under this subsection. Any other eligible entity may 

19 designate the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish 

20 Commission to administer its permit authority under 

21 this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(6) NEPA.—Section 102(2)(C) of the Na23 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

24 4332(2)(C)) shall not apply with respect to this sub25 section and the issuance of any permit under this 

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1 subsection during the 3-year period beginning on the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 ‘‘(7) TERMINATION OF PERMITTING AUTHOR4 ITY.—The Secretary may not issue any permit under 

5 this subsection after the earlier of— 

6 ‘‘(A) the end of the 5-year period begin7 ning on the date of the enactment of this sub8 section; or 

9 ‘‘(B) the date the Secretary determines 

10 that lethal removal authority is no longer nec11 essary to protect salmonid stocks from Cali12 fornia sea lion predation. 

13 ‘‘(8) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this sub14 section, the term ‘eligible entity’ means each of the 

15 State of Washington, the State of Oregon, the Nez 

16 Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the 

17 Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated 

18 Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, 

19 and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the 

20 Yakama Nation.’’. 

21 (b) RECOMMENDED LEGISLATION.—Not later than 

22 two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

23 Secretary of Commerce shall submit to the Congress a re24 port on the need for additional legislation to amend the 

25 Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to address the 

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1 general issue of predation by marine mammals on fish spe2 cies listed as threatened species or endangered species 

3 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

4 1531 et seq.). 

5 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

6 It is the sense of the Congress that— 

7 (1) nonlethal means of preventing predation of 

8 listed salmonid stocks in the Columbia River by 

9 California sea lions is preferable to lethal means; 

10 (2) permit holders exercising lethal removal au11 thority pursuant to the amendment made by this 

12 Act should be trained in wildlife management; and 

13 (3) the Federal Government should continue to 

14 fund, research, and support effective nonlethal alter15 native measures for preventing such predation. 

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