Sept. 9, 2010:  NOAA Fisheries has sent a letter (PDF 60KB) to the 18 members of the task force charged with advising the agency on interactions between California sea lions and salmon at Bonneville Dam, asking the group to reconvene.

The group, known formally as the Pinniped-Fishery Interaction Task Force, first met in 2007 and produced a report recommending the agency take actions to reduce California sea lion predation on salmon, including capturing and killing specific animals.  

In early 2008 the agency gave permission to Oregon, Washington and Idaho to permanently remove certain California sea lions from below Bonneville Dam.That permission remains in effect until June 30, 2012.

NOAA is now asking the task force to evaluate how effective these removal actions have been so far and to provide recommendations for different or additional actions, if they are needed. 

The task force will meet twice, Oct 25-26 and Nov. 9-10 at the Lloyd Center Doubletree Hotel in Portland, Ore. The second morning of each meeting will be open for the public to provide relevant information to the task force.