§1389 Pacific Coast Task Force; Gulf of Maine

Summary

The Secretary can allow the deliberate killing of specific seals or sea lions if they are clearly harming salmon or other listed fish and only after a set review process. A State can apply to identify and request removal of individual animals. The application must show which animals, explain the problem, and say how the removal will help. Within 15 days the Secretary decides if there is enough evidence to form a Pinniped-Fishery Interaction Task Force and asks for public comments. The Task Force, made up of government staff, scientists, fishing and conservation groups, tribes, States, and others, must review comments and within 60 days say whether to approve or deny the taking, describe exactly which animals, where, when, and how the removal would happen, list ways that were tried without killing animals, and suggest nonlethal options. The Secretary then has 30 days to approve or deny. If approved, Federal or State agencies or qualified contractors carry out the removal, and the Task Force later evaluates how well it worked and recommends next steps or ends its work. Decisions must consider population trends, where and how the problem happens, past nonlethal efforts, ecosystem effects, and public safety. The Secretary may not approve killing animals that are listed under the Endangered Species Act, are declared depleted, or are a strategic stock. There are special rules for the Columbia River. The Secretary may issue permits to eligible entities to remove individual sea lions in specified parts of the Columbia River to protect listed salmon, steelhead, eulachon, and certain lamprey or sturgeon. Eligible entities include the States of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho; certain tribes; and a Secretary‑recognized Oregon committee. The same timelines and Task Force steps apply. Permits last no more than 5 years and can be renewed. All permits together may not allow removing more than 10 percent of the annual potential biological removal for sea lions. Removals must be humane and follow animal care and euthanasia standards. If, 5 years after December 18, 2018, the Secretary finds lethal removals are no longer needed, permit issuance must be suspended. Sea lions in the river stretch between river mile 112 and McNary Dam, or in tributaries with spawning habitat, are treated as individually identifiable and as causing significant harm. The Secretary may study high-predation areas in the Northwest and report results within 18 months if money is available. The Secretary must also set up a Gulf of Maine task force on aquaculture conflicts and report mitigation options within 2 years of April 30, 1994. Task forces should balance users and nonusers, hold open public meetings with notice, and some porpoise assessment and take‑reduction timing rules apply, but no compliance date may be extended past April 1, 1997.