Evening star., 1901-07-02
UNDERWRITERS.
w. r. Speare,
Undertaken & Emba1mer.
$40 + STREET NORTHWEST.
Everything strictly frst-class and on the most
terms. Telephone call $40. ja7-1Otf
WAR on SEA LIONS.
Salmon Fishermen of the Northwest
Would Extermfnate Them.
From the San Francisco Bulletin

Salmon Ffshermen of the Northwest
| Would Extermtnate Them.
| From the San Francisco Bulletin.
Fishermen of the North Pacific coast are
| undertaking a movement for the destruc-
| tiCn of the sea lions. the inveterate en-
| emies of salmon and other food fishes. and
| which annually make incalculable ravages
| in the schools Of Chinooks. steelheads and
| other varieties of salmon that hover of
the Washington and Oregon coast. The
| last Oregon legislature passed bill offer
ing a bounty of $3.50 for each sea lion
| killed in the waters Of the state or within
| one marine league of the Oregon shore
| Faulty wording Of the bill renders the
money set aside for the purpose unavaila-
| bic, and the Fishermens Protective Union
| has raised a fund by private subscription
| to hire men to shoot the lions at their
breeding grounds
How many salmon each Of these mon
sters kills each day is purely a matter Of
| conjecture, but instances are known where
| single sea lion has killed and eaten
| eighteen salmon within very few minutes.
| and 1t Is certain that many hundreds OF
thousands Of royal Chinook salmon are
| killed every year by these pests. When
| fishing the lions usually travel in groups
| Of from six to eight and they will follow
| school of fish for days They feast on
| the fish until they become quite dainty, and
| will take but one bite from the choicest
| part of a salmon, leaving the remainder of
| the fish to float ashore or to be devoured
| by the scavengers Of the seas. The lions
vary in size, but when fully grown average
| about eight or ten feet in length, although
| specimens have been seen fully eighteen
| feet long and which would weigh 1000
pounds.
lions do the greatest amount Of damage.
They are numerous at many places along
the Pacific coast, but their favorite rem
devious appears to be in the neighborhood
Of the mouth of the Columbia river ThOu-
sands Of them congregate at Seal Rock
light house during the breeding season.
These rocks are situated well out from the
beach and can be reached only during the
extreme low tides of the summer months,
thus rendering the retreat of the lions COM
paratively safe from attack except during
isolated periods After leaving the rocks
at the close of the breeding season the lions
are even more voracious than usual, and
the schools Of fish in that region Of the
ocean have short shrift. Numbers Of the
lions gather off the mouth of the Columbia
river, and the sands of the jetty are black
with them during the warm hours of the
day The huge mammals appear to be
warned by instinct of the approach Of a
school of salmon, which Is always the sig
nal for hurried putting to sea, and before
the return thousands of the choicest fish in
the world have been devoured or so badly
mutilated that they will die. Commercially
the sea lions are Of little value. and not
enough can be realized from their sale to
make the killing of them profitable.
1QlS, coupled Win the extreme Olf1lCuity
of securing the carcasses of the animals as
the lions take to the water soon as they
are shot, makes the hunting of them pre-
carious means of livelihood and renders it
absolutely necessary that bounty be paid
If the lions are to be exterminated The
hides, which weigh when green about 20
pounds, sell for half a cent a pound. The
whiskers of the male sell for from 10 cents
to 13 cents for the largest which are from
10 to IL inches in length. Those of the fe-
male are fewer in number and less valua-
BILE, but longer, some reaching 1S inches In
length.
A vast amount of valuable fishing gear is
destroyed each year by the lions. A big
male lion, while in pursuit of salmon, will
become entangled in gill net or trap, and
before 1t can possibly be released will by
Its desperate lashings and biting tear the
web into shreds. The amount of damage
done each season would be difficult to esti-
mate, but 1T is certainly enormous, and
their determination at the least would be
of untold benefit to the fishing industry of
the coast.
ov,tx Ill \,