Letter of support for continued funding of marine mammal predation

In October 2020 the Council sent a letter to NOAA Fisheries urging permanent federal funding for ongoing, critical research into the impact of marine mammals – sea lions and seals – on adult spring Chinook salmon and other species in the Columbia River. To date, the research has been funded through annual grants. NOAA has reported that as much as 40 percent of the annual spring Chinook return disappears between the ocean and Bonneville Dam and attributes this disappearance to predation by marine mammals, after accounting for other possible sources of mortality.