Oregon asks to kill salmon-eating birds

reply to post by PacificBlue


So if all the fish are dammed up who is the blame for that one? The fish collect there and animals naturally go to get a easy meal. It's messed up we cause the problem in the first place then now we gotta go and murder em all? That's like leaving big vats of honey in a park and shooting the bears when they come to eat it, because they are a all over the park. You see the flawed logic there?

reply to post by sean


I agree, that we built a dam, that created this problem. One solution was to do nothing, which they tried for a long time, but the problem just kept getting worse.

I am still not sure what the solution is. I would say to let nature take its course, except then we would have no salmon. One of the strangest things I have seen is the salmon trying to get up the concrete fish ladder at the dam, it just looks so artificial and weird.

But in the end, there are going to be sea lions and birds near the dam, no matter what they do, as it will be impossible to keep them away, so nature kind of wins out in the long run.

Humans eat more of the fish, why wouldn't we shoot them? Oh wait, it's all about money.

Originally posted by PacificBlue


But in the end, there are going to be sea lions and birds near the dam, no matter what they do, as it will be impossible to keep them away, so nature kind of wins out in the long run.

That's what I don't get. What could their plan possibly be? Are they going to try and kill them ALL?

Although, to clarify, they are only considering the option. They havent decided if they want to do it yet

Originally posted by PacificBlue


This issue is about a choice, do we want sea lions and birds, or salmon? I would prefer salmon, since it is already hard enough for them to travel upstream and downstream through dams and fish ladders. I read somewhere that 90% of young salmon die going through dams. Also, dams create a huge food supply that creates a population explosion, making the problem worse. Modern technology does not always blend well with nature.

I would agree with you if the issue was really one of sea lions and cormorants vs Salmon, but it isn't As the article shows, these only take about 10-15% of the Salmon. The real problem is that the sea lions and cormorants compete with local fisherman who provide a tourist industry a good bit of money to fish those areas. That, combined with the hatcheries who see their profit going to feed wildlife, and they want to start taking out the wildlife.

So, no, the predators are not harming the survival of the Salmon. They are threatening the profits of various industries who are the ones ACTUALLY threatening the survival of the Salmon/

reply to post by stanguilles7


I got busy, but I wanted to reply. The article in your OP says that they plan to shoot the birds and that 28 other states practice cormorant control. Harassing them with speedboats and firecrackers does not work. Also, they leave quite a mess in public places and used to be considered a nuisance birds before they were protected. That does not mean I think it is alright to shoot birds that eat fish, but the salmon industry and sports fishing are a big part of the economy of the Pacific NW.

To Kill A Cormorant

Under the new rules, individuals and states are permitted to kill a total of 160,000 cormorants each year. An average of about 40,000 cormorants are reported killed each year—perhaps 2 percent of North America’s population. That figure does not include tens of thousands of eggs oiled annually

There seems to be a hit list for these poor birds. I used to live near the beach and they could be messy, but we never thought about killing them.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife kills many animals and birds, and I was shocked by just how many. And it is mostly for the reason you mentioned, to protect industry and business. Some of the mass birds deaths that we read about, were because the birds were poisoned by the USDA, but they do not exactly advertise this.

This thread by ATS member loam was about this issue -The KILLING AGENCY: Wildlife Services' trail of animal death..

abovetopsecret.com

Reading the above makes me wonder just how many government agencies are using our tax dollars to kill things!

reply to post by PacificBlue


Well, to be fair, they haven't decided yet if they will klll the birds.

My main issue, as seems to be the issue with others, even at the agency, is if killing them will make any difference. I could see if killing, say, 10% was effective, but it likely wont be. They'll have to pretty uchkill them all, which will merely bring more in. It will be a never ending cycle.

The better plan would be to put a moratorium on human harvesting of salmon fo a few years to allow stocks to buid up again.

Butwe know that wil NEVER happen.

Originally posted by Hillarie
I'd rather let the birds have the salmon. We can eat something else. This is awful.

I love salmon! pacific salmon is better than Atlantic.

But the birds shouldn't be killed.