Salmon-Hunting Sea Lions Slaughtered

May 5, 2008— -- Authorities are investigating the weekend shooting deaths of six Pacific Coast sea lions that had been targets of a controversial federal program designed to keep the seals from devouring the dwindling salmon population.

After the shootings, U.S. wildlife officials suspended the program, which involved moving away and sometimes killing so-called predator seals.

The dead seals were found on top of a floating platform enclosed by a chain link fence — traps set by authorities in a federally restricted area along the Columbia River near the Washington side.

"That area where the traps are is also a boat-restricted area. It's monitored. It's marked," said Brian Gorman, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northwest Region, told ABC News.

"There are two questions: How did they die and how did someone gain access to the traps?" Gorman said.

Necropsies will be performed on the six animals — four California sea lions and two stellar sea lions. "There will be someone there from our enforcement division and probably the state police in Oregon and Washington," Gorman said. "There may be slugs to recover."

The animals, known for feeding on an endangered salmon population that gathers below the Bonneville Dam in April and May before swimming up river to spawn, were found dead midday Sunday.

The gates to the traps, which typically are kept open, had been manually shut, Gorman said. "Someone had to gain access to the traps directly," he said. "Clearly there is a question about how access was gained."

Gorman also confirmed that a federal authorization granted in March for officials in Oregon, Washington and Idaho to trap certain sea lions identified as persistent predators of the salmon stock has been put temporarily on hold. "The state with our blessing has decided to suspend further trapping for the time being."

The NOAA authorization, announced in March, actually gave the states the right to euthanize sea lions in specific circumstances — when the animal has been identified as a repeat offender feeding on salmon and there is no permanent holding facility to transport the animal.

A Ninth Circuit Court Judge, however, granted an injunction late last month that temporarily stripped state officials of the euthanization option. A hearing on the matter was scheduled for May 8, but Rick Hargrave, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that court date could be affected by the weekend shooting.