After more than three years of campaigning, I am thrilled to announce that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has finally ruled to block the National Marine Fisheries Service’s killing of federally protected sea lions on the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. In Defense of Animals (IDA) working with a grassroots group the Sea Lion Defense Brigade (SLDB) have organized against the state-sanctioned sea lion killing while the lawsuit that challenged the program languished in court for years. Now all that hard work has paid off and the sea lions are safe from harm!

The court said the government failed to meet the requirements of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and cannot justify killing protected pinnipeds. The sea lion predation of .04 to 4.2 percent of the spring salmon run at the Bonneville Dam could not be considered a “significant negative impact” when the same agencies allow fisherman to take up to 17 percent of the returning fish.

IDA congratulates the prevailing plaintiffs, The Humane Society of the United States, Wild Fish Conservancy and two private citizens. This campaign exemplifies how different organizations, working on legal and grassroots fronts, can reach a common goal for animals.

This is a huge victory for both sea lions and salmon. We are relieved to see an end to the unethical, politically motivated killing of native, protected sea lions and we hope these agencies will now address the human-caused threats to salmon recovery – over-fishing, introduction of non-native fish, dams and habitat destruction.

Since the lethal removal program began in 2008, IDA and the SLDB have worked to protect the sea lions in the Columbia River and hold agencies accountable to the public for this controversial program. Activists organized dozens of demonstrations, met with government officials, and rallied on the steps of the Oregon capital. IDA fought a court battle to free one sea lion named “Willy,” who was misidentified by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and wrongfully removed from the river.

During the 2010 spring salmon season, IDA and SLDB launched a volunteer-based vigil near the Bonneville Dam to track government trapping and killing, and educate the public and fishermen. An RV mobile monitoring vehicle called the “Sea Wolf” kept a round the clock watch over the sea lions.

Among the core campaigners, spirits are very high right now. “I’m overjoyed at the court’s ruling,” exclaimed Bethanie O’Driscoll, one of the plaintiffs and grassroots organizers, remarked after the victory was announced. “It’s been a hard fight, but anyone who has ever looked into the eyes of a sea lion will understand why it was worth it.”

“I’m not going to miss getting up every morning at 5:00 a.m. to try to scare sea lions out of the traps,” joked Julie Farris, a dedicated volunteer who spent months on site at the dam. She reminisced about how our efforts to educate the public and even fishermen really paid off. “We made inroads with people who had thought of the sea lions as a nuisance.”

Our education efforts have set the record straight. These gregarious, intelligent sea lions are a part of the river ecosystem. They belong here as much as the salmon, and should never been killed for simply eating.

This blog was contributed by Matt Rossell, a former IDA employee.

Ringling has a long history of animal abuse and neglect – everything from animal deaths to a list USDA violations a mile long. The most recent developments in Ringling’s long history of abuse are an undercover investigation  which showed Ringling beating elephants and other animals, and recently released, never before seen photos of Ringling abusing baby elephants.

Portland is a city of compassionate, animal-loving people. It’s a progressive town with no tolerance for abuse of any kind and this protest of circus animal abuse was certainly right in line with this city’s values. We mobilized through Facebook and e-mail and on opening night had the largest crowd ever at a circus demo in Portland – 80 people. It was inspiring. And we weren’t done there – all of the protests we held throughout the weekend were well attended – tripling the numbers of folks we had at last year’s demos.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to come out and help. Someone asked me on Sunday if I thought we were truly making a difference, and I responded that if we were absent, we certainly wouldn’t be, but I do believe these peaceful shows of force do make a difference and hopefully plant a seed of compassion in even the most hardened circus supporter.

]]> http://www.idablog.org/ringling-unwelcome-in-portland/feed/ 10 http://www.idablog.org/saving-oregons-sea-lions/ http://www.idablog.org/saving-oregons-sea-lions/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:55:43 +0000 Doll Stanley http://www.idablog.org/?p=1080

IDA's Matt Rossell rallying the crowd.

Yesterday protesters from IDA and the Sea Lion Defense Brigade confronted wildlife officials responsible for the lethal removal of the protected sea lions, to voice concerns and ask questions about a plan that is misguided, has not met the criteria set forth in Section 120 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, fails to accurately identify specific sea lions as required by law, and will do nothing to resolve issues that endanger salmon populations.

Fishing quotas for salmon on the Columbia River this year were raised to 16 percent from last year’s 13 percent, while sea lions at the Bonneville Dam are being killed for eating what will likely be only about one percent of the 2010 spring run. These wildlife agencies are not making sound, biology-based decisions regarding salmon recovery. And the agencies’ track record has been abysmal, with multiple incidents of malfunctioning traps and seven sea lions who have died unintentionally in state custody.

Fur Free Friday in San Francisco’s Union Square was a huge success! We had over 50 activists on a drizzly morning educating San Francisco shoppers about the terrible cruelty of fur. We had a “bunny” and a “doggy” (activists in costume) in cages with images of the horrors of the Chinese fur trade surrounding the cages depicting the anguish in which animals on fur farms suffer before they are brutally killed. Many people stopped to look at the gruesome photos.

Our huge 12 foot tall banner with images of a fox and a rabbit greeted Macy’s shoppers with the message, “Please, don’t buy fur.” Some activists went to leaflet at Niemen Marcus, some at Sacs Fifth Ave, some at Macy’s and some at IDA’s main target, Nordstrom on Market St. Around 2 pm, we marched around Union Square just as the drizzle turned into a steady rain. But it did not dampen our spirits as we chanted “Compassion is the Fashion, Don’t Buy Fur!”

IDA hosted many events on the West Coast where Fur Free Friday participation peaked, including Portland, Oregon where 200 advocates took over the streets with a police-escorted march. Activists carried signs, chanted and marched peacefully to all downtown locations that sell fur, entertained and educated by cheers from the pom-pom-carrying group called the Radical Cheerleaders for Animal Rights. In Los Angeles 100 spirited activists came out to march in Beverly Hills on the sidewalks of Rodeo Drive, stopping at all the locations that sell fur, and their efforts were covered in news stories on three local networks that evening. IDA staff and volunteers presented an eye-catching demo in San Francisco’s Union Square, complete with giant banners and displays with animal-costumed activists “trapped” inside cages.

In solidarity with suffering animals, activists in Boston came out in harsh weather, even after freezing rain had canceled the local group’s scheduled demo. IDA met a handful of these die-hard activists who leafleted the metro stops for 3 hours, handing out over 900 anti-fur leaflets!

Many Fur Free Friday demonstrations across the country occurred outside Nordstrom stores, where IDA has an ongoing focused campaign, determined to make Nordstrom the first major U.S. upscale department store to go completely fur-free. The Nordstrom Campaign was re-launched on Fur Free Friday, and is off to a great start. Activists will be leafleting outside Nordstrom stores through Valentine’s Day, encouraging Nordstrom customers to speak up about fur, and IDA is looking for volunteers to participate. Please contact IDA’s NW Director, Matt Rossell at matt@idausa.org or 503-249-9996, to find out how you can help, and visit our Nordstrom Campaign site for more information.

IDA’s Director of Outreach Hope Bohanec contributed to this post.