Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Reward quadrupled after more than 20 endangered sea lions illegally killed near Cordova

August 8, 2023 — More than 20 endangered sea lions have been found dead in the Copper River Delta this summer, many with gunshot wounds. The National Marine Fisheries Service has now quadrupled the reward for information on the illegal killings to $20,000.

Sadie Wright, a biologist with the agency, said the dead animals were found during surveys of the area east of Cordova. This year, she said, it’s an unusually high number.

“We’ve done this for a number of years,” Wright said. “And this year we’ve found a big spike in the number of dead sea lions on the islands there.”

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

U.S. bans most Pacific sardine fishing after population crash

April 12, 2016 — Federal fishery managers have banned nearly all sardine fishing off the U.S. West Coast for the second straight year in a move hailed by conservation groups as key to protecting decimated California sea lion herds.

Pacific sardine populations have plunged by 90 percent since 2007, prompting the Pacific Fishery Management Council to vote Sunday to extend its prohibition on virtually all fishing of the small oily fish within 200 miles of the California, Oregon and Washington coasts.

The sardine collapse has rippled up the food chain and has been linked to deaths of sea lions and brown pelicans across the U.S. West Coast. Sea lion pups, emaciated and starving, have washed up on California beaches.

“Their mothers can’t find enough food, and have to search further and further for longer and longer periods of time,” said Ben Enticknap of Portland-based environmental advocacy group Oceana.

See the full story at Reuters