Poison Pill Plan for Sea Lions Termed Too Much to Swallow

Southern California fishermen are sick of seeing their catch stolen by the burgeoning sea lion population, so they have persuaded authorities to make the sea lions sick of stealing the fish.

State Fish and Game officials plan to start feeding the marauding mammals fish spiked with a nauseating chemical in hopes of training them to leave the fish alone, said biologist Doyle Hanan.

Tests have been approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service and will begin next year in waters off Orange County, San Diego and San Pedro. Fish and Game workers will inject lithium chloride into tuna and other sport-fishing species and dangle the tainted fish over the side of fishing boats.

“The sea lion eats (the treated fish) and it makes him ill,” Hanan explained. “Then he associates the illness with the fish--and stops eating the fish.”

Environmentalists contend the program could put the sea lions off all food, and also say lithium chloride could damage the animals’ nerve, muscle, digestive and circulatory systems.

“When you start to introduce toxic chemicals into the marine environment, you’re asking for trouble,” said William Ford, executive director of Friends of the Sea Lion. “It’s also possible that other fish, dolphins or whales could get” the spiked fish, Ford said.

Hanan said the animals are smart enough to associate the sickening fish with the sport-fishing boats that pass it out, and to respond by looking elsewhere for their meals.

Serious problems come from long exposure to the chemical, he said, while a sea lion should need only one or two doses to learn its lesson. In many cases, the animals will throw up the fish before even digesting the chemical, he said.

Fishermen have complained about the sea lions since their numbers started to grow after the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972. Since then, the estimated sea lion population off Southern California has quadrupled, to between 75,000 and 80,000.