In Astoria, sea lions are an endemic presence along the Columbia River banks and especially along the Port of Astoria’s East Mooring Basin. The port has experimented with several nonlethal methods for ...

Wildlife regulators have been trying to protect the endangered salmon along the Columbia River, and in 2007 they began shooting sea lions that... Salmon-Eating Sea Lions Targeted For Good Taste Each ...

Here's what happens: The plankton eat algae that contains the acid, and then the fish eat the plankton, and the sea lions eat the fish — one thing surviving off another, passing on the toxic acid.

Killing the protected animals may be the only way to stop them from eating too many of the Pacific Northwest’s endangered salmon.