II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1702 

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

by sea lions on endangered Columbia River salmon and other species 

not listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2017 

Mr. RISCH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to 

reduce predation by sea lions on endangered Columbia 

River salmon and other species not listed under the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, 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 and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) There are 13 groups of salmon and 

2 steelhead that are listed as threatened species or en3 dangered species under the Endangered Species Act 

4 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) that migrate 

5 through the lower Columbia River. All lower Colum6 bia River tributaries contain listed species, including 

7 Chinook, Chum, and Coho salmon and winter-run 

8 steelhead. 

9 (2) The people of the Northwest of the United 

10 States are united in their desire to restore healthy 

11 salmon and steelhead runs because the fish are inte12 gral to the culture and economy of the region. 

13 (3) The Columbia River Treaty tribes retain 

14 important rights with respect to salmon and steel15 head. 

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

17 spent billions of dollars to assist the recovery of 

18 salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia 

19 River basin. 

20 (5) One of the factors that negatively impacts 

21 salmonid populations is increased predation by ma22 rine mammals, including California sea lions. 

23 (6) As of June 2017, the population of Cali24 fornia sea lions has increased 10-fold during the last 

25 30 years, and is approximately 300,000 animals. 


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1 (7) Biologists estimate that in recent years, 

2 during the peak spring salmonid run, as many as 

3 3,000 California sea lions have been foraging in the 

4 lower 145 miles of the Columbia River to the Bonne5 ville Dam. 

6 (8) Historically, California sea lions, the habitat 

7 of which is fundamentally salt water, did not venture 

8 very far up into the Columbia River. 

9 (9) The percentage of the spring salmonid run 

10 that has been eaten or killed by California sea lions 

11 at the Bonneville Dam has increased 7-fold since 

12 2002. 

13 (10) The Columbia River spring chinook and 

14 the Willamette River steelhead are salmonid species 

15 that are listed under the Endangered Species Act of 

16 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) as an endangered 

17 species and a threatened species, respectively. 

18 (11) Federal, State and tribal estimates indi19 cate that sea lions are consuming at least 20 percent 

20 of the Columbia River spring chinook run and 15 

21 percent of Willamette River steelhead run. 

22 (12) In recent years, California sea lions have 

23 congregated with greater frequency near Willamette 

24 Falls and the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia 

25 River and have entered the fish ladders that salmon 


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1 use to return to the historical and biological spawn2 ing grounds of the salmon. 

3 (13) These California sea lions have not been 

4 responsive to extensive hazing methods used to dis5 courage predation. 

6 (14) The process established under the Marine 

7 Mammal Protection Act Amendments of 1994 (Pub8 lic Law 103–238; 108 Stat. 532) to address preda9 tory sea lion behavior that negatively impacts threat10 ened or endangered salmon runs is protracted and 

11 has not been successful. 

12 (15) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

13 Administration has observed that— 

14 (A) management efforts to reduce pinniped 

15 predation of endangered and threatened salmon 

16 and steelhead in the area around the Bonneville 

17 Dam has been insufficient to reduce the sever18 ity of the threat; and 

19 (B) efforts need to focus more on the lower 

20 Columbia River and the area around Willamette 

21 Falls. 

22 (16) In the interest of protecting threatened 

23 and endangered salmonids in the Columbia River, a 

24 temporary expedited procedure is urgently needed to 

25 allow removal of the minimum number of California 


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1 sea lions as is necessary to protect the passage of 

2 the threatened and endangered salmonids in the Co3 lumbia River and its tributaries. 

4 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) the prevention of predation by sea lions on 

7 salmonids in the Columbia River, the recovery of 

8 salmonid species listed as threatened species or en9 dangered species under the Endangered Species Act 

10 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the preven11 tion of future listings of fish species in the Columbia 

12 River under that Act are vital priorities; and 

13 (2) the Federal Government should continue to 

14 fund lethal and nonlethal removal measures to pre15 vent such predation. 

16 SEC. 4. TAKING OF SEA LIONS ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER 

17 AND ITS TRIBUTARIES TO PROTECT ENDAN18 GERED SPECIES AND THREATENED SPECIES 

19 OF SALMON AND OTHER NONLISTED FISH 

20 SPECIES. 

21 Section 120(f) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act 

22 of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1389(f)) is amended to read as fol23 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(f) TEMPORARY MARINE MAMMAL REMOVAL AU2 THORITY ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER AND ITS TRIBU3 TARIES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

5 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi6 ble entity’ means— 

7 ‘‘(i) the State of Washington; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the State of Oregon; 

9 ‘‘(iii) the State of Idaho; 

10 ‘‘(iv) the Nez Perce Tribe; 

11 ‘‘(v) the Confederated Tribes of the 

12 Umatilla Indian Reservation; 

13 ‘‘(vi) the Confederated Tribes of the 

14 Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon; 

15 ‘‘(vii) the Confederated Tribes and 

16 Bands of the Yakama Nation; 

17 ‘‘(viii) the Columbia River Inter-Trib18 al Fish Commission; and 

19 ‘‘(ix) the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. 

20 ‘‘(B) INDIVIDUALLY IDENTIFIABLE.—With 

21 respect to a pinniped, the term ‘individually 

22 identifiable’ means any pinniped located— 

23 ‘‘(i) upstream of river mile 112 of the 

24 Columbia River; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in any tributary that contains 

2 spawning habitat of threatened or endan3 gered salmon or steelhead. 

4 ‘‘(2) REMOVAL AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding 

5 any other provision of this Act, the Secretary may 

6 issue a permit to an eligible entity to authorize the 

7 intentional lethal taking of individually identifiable 

8 sea lions that are part of a population that is not 

9 depleted, on the Columbia River and its tributaries 

10 for the purpose of protecting species of salmon that 

11 are listed as endangered species or threatened spe12 cies under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

13 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and other fish species that are 

14 not listed as threatened species or endangered spe15 cies under that Act. 

16 ‘‘(3) PERMIT PROCESS.— 

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

18 apply to the Secretary for a permit under this 

19 subsection. 

20 ‘‘(B) DEADLINE FOR CONSIDERATION OF

21 APPLICATION.—Not later than 30 days after 

22 the Secretary receives an application for a per23 mit under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

24 shall approve or deny the application for a per25 mit under this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(C) DURATION OF PERMIT.—A permit 

2 issued under this subsection— 

3 ‘‘(i) shall be effective for not more 

4 than 1 year after the date on which the 

5 permit is issued; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) may be renewed by the Sec7 retary. 

8 ‘‘(4) LIMITATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) LIMITATION ON PERMIT AUTHOR10 ITY.—Subject to subparagraph (B), a permit 

11 issued under this subsection shall not authorize 

12 the lethal taking of more than 100 sea lions 

13 during the permit period. 

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

15 The cumulative number of sea lions authorized 

16 to be taken each calendar year under all per17 mits in effect under this subsection shall not ex18 ceed 10 percent of the annual potential biologi19 cal removal level. 

20 ‘‘(5) TRAINING IN NATURAL RESOURCES MAN21 AGEMENT.—Each permit holder that exercises lethal 

22 removal authority pursuant to this subsection shall 

23 be trained in natural resource management. 

24 ‘‘(6) DELEGATION OF PERMIT AUTHORITY.—An 

25 eligible entity may delegate to any other eligible entiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:17 Aug 15, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1702.IS S1702

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1 ty the authority to administer a permit under this 

2 subsection. 

3 ‘‘(7) NEPA.—Section 102(2)(C) of the Na4 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

5 4332(2)(C)) shall not apply with respect to this sub6 section and the issuance of any permit under this 

7 subsection during the 5-year period beginning on the 

8 date of the enactment of the Endangered Salmon 

9 and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act. 

10 ‘‘(8) SUSPENSION OF PERMITTING AUTHOR11 ITY.—The Secretary may suspend the issuance of 

12 permits under this subsection if, within 5 years after 

13 the date of the enactment of the Endangered Salm14 on and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act, after 

15 consultation with State and tribal fishery managers, 

16 the Secretary determines that lethal removal author17 ity is no longer necessary to protect salmonid and 

18 other fish species from sea lion predation.’’. 

19 SEC. 5. TREATY RIGHTS OF INDIAN TRIBES. 

20 Nothing in this Act or the amendment made by this 

21 Act affects or modifies any treaty or any other right of 

22 any Indian tribe (as defined in section 4 of the Indian 

23 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

24 U.S.C. 5304)). 

Æ 


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