>Incidentally, if you are referring to the Seattle case, the concern over
>the sea lions was for the steelhead run, not the salmon. The steelhead
>run through Lake Washington is down to about 150 individuals, and people
>worried that this run, toppling on the brink of extinction, might be
>pushed over the edge by the Sea Lions that prey on them as they mill
>about, searching for the ill designed fish ladder around the Ballard
>Locks.
>
>Chris Hill
>Seattle, WA
>cehill at u.washington.edu
________________
Actually I was thinking of a similar case here in Portland where the Sea
Lions travel about 100 miles up the Columbia and Willamette Rivers to dine
on salmon milling around the base of Willamette Falls. After watching Sea
Lions bring beautiful bright fish to the surface and take one bite out of
them only to drop them and go after another, it's easy for me to imagine
that they could have a major impact on the dwindling salmon runs.

John Shelton
Portland, Oregon