Suit Seeks to Stop Killing of Sea Lions
Sea lions facing death for gobbling up dwindling stocks of steelhead trout at the Ballard Locks in Seattle now have a champion in the Humane Society.
The Humane Society of the United States filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington on Thursday seeking to overturn federal authorization to kill up to five sea lions, the local Humane Society said Friday.
The lawsuit charges that the National Marine Fisheries Service violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act when it gave authorization for the state Fish and Wildlife Department to kill the sea lions, which have been protected by federal law since 1972.
The Humane Society also asked for a stay of the authorization to kill the sea lions until the case can be heard.
The controversial trapping and killing of the animals, originally scheduled for Monday, pits the sea lions against the steelhead, whose numbers have dwindled from runs of 1,600 fish through the locks in the mid-1980s to an estimated run of 130 this year.
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