Federal Agency Would Ship Sea Lions to County Again : Environment: Fishing officials here dislike the plan, aimed at helping steelhead trout stocks in Washington state.

As many as 60 California sea lions that are devouring large numbers of steelhead trout off Washington state would be relocated to waters off Ventura and Santa Barbara counties under a proposal to be considered next week by the California Coastal Commission.

The proposal, which has been criticized by local fishing interests, marks the second time that the National Marine Fisheries Service has tried to relocate sea lions to keep them from eating the already depressed stocks of steelhead at their spawning grounds near Ballard Locks, Wash.

In 1989, after the Fisheries Service relocated six sea lions to local waters, five returned to Ballard--a 1,500-mile journey--within a month, according to James R. Raives, a Coastal Commission analyst.

“Apparently, as soon as they were released into the water, they headed north and high-tailed it back to Washington,” Raives said, adding that sea lions in Washington all migrated north from California waters in the first place. “They apparently know a good meal when they see it.”

Joe Scordino, deputy chief of fisheries management for the Fisheries Service’s northwest division, said the goal is not necessarily to relocate the sea lions permanently, but to provide some relief for the spawning steelhead.

“Basically, what we are doing is buying some time for the steelhead to spawn without them being grabbed by the sea lions,” Scordino said. “We do not harbor any beliefs that the animals we transport down there will stay there.”

Raives said the Coastal Commission staff will recommend that members approve the Fisheries Service proposal, but local fishing officials said it is a bad idea.

“The population of sea lions here is already out of control,” said Brian Jenison, spokesman for the Ventura County Commercial Fishermen’s Assn. “It’s not right that one state’s problems are being dumped on another.”

Jenison said the sea mammals often follow sport and commercial fishing vessels and effectively shut down their operations, grabbing the catches directly from nets and lines.

“Once the sea lions show up, you have to leave or you’ll be wasting your time,” Jenison said, adding that the sea lions especially enjoy sea bass and halibut. “You just hope that they won’t follow you.”

Scordino said the Ballard Locks area is the first hurdle of a miles-long steelhead migratory path into the Lake Washington watershed off Puget Sound. Because the fish are slow to negotiate the locks’ fish ladders, they become vulnerable to the constantly hungry sea lions.

In an attempt to protect the steelhead, Fisheries Service biologists have installed underwater devices that emit noise designed to repel the sea lions, which works to some extent, Scordino said.

“The animals that we will eventually seek to relocate are those that penetrate the acoustical barrier around the locks,” Scordino said. “So far, that barrier has worked, but we would like to have the relocation option available to us should we need it.”

Once captured, the sea lions will be trucked south from Washington to the Santa Barbara area in an estimated 22-hour ride, with stops along the way to feed and wet down the animals.

Scordino said the mammals will be released into groups of sea lions spotted in the Santa Barbara Channel or on one of the Channel Islands. In peak season, the channel is home to more than 100,000 sea lions, according to official estimates.

If any of the newcomers remain in Southern California waters, the Coastal Commission’s Raives said, it will be the larger, sexually mature specimens.

“What we noticed in 1989 was that all five of the sea lions that returned to Washington were young or sub-adult in classification,” Raives said. “The one animal that stayed in the area was older and bigger and was able to integrate himself with the local populations of female sea lions.”

For Jan Mangus, 44, a Santa Barbara-based sport fishing enthusiast, the addition of even a few sea lions means more headaches and less fun.

“I view sea lions the same way a farmer views gophers--a real pest,” she said.

The proposal is due to come before the Coastal Commission during its meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday in San Diego.