Hello, tweeters.

The situation in Bellingham with the Caspian Tern colony breaks my heart too. This species, just because it happens to be a fish-eater and nests in large colonies, has been driven from pillar to post in Washington state (and I presume elsewhere). Because there seems to be a prevalent attitude of "salmon ?ber alles" in our state, anything that eats salmonids is an unwanted pest, and they are persecuted beyond belief. Fish-eating birds in large numbers are killed along the Columbia River by personnel of Wildlife Services, the federal government "wildlife damage management" department. As was pointed out, sea lions are also on the receiving end of this persecution, but they have a lot of supporters who have tried to point out that they need protection as much as the fish do. Caspian Terns need the same support.

Some salmonid populations are endangered, so this gives the authorities rationale to go after the terns (and other fish-eaters) as their predators. But to some of us who have been watching this situation develop, it really seems as if much of the "damage" that is being done by Caspian Terns is predation on hatchery-raised fish, obviously not covered under the Endangered Species Act. The terns, of course, have to fish to live and to feed their young, and they aren't aware of the powerful forces aligned against them.

There are obviously several groups that profit from or enjoy salmon fishing, particularly sports and commercial fishermen and Native tribes, and they comprise an influential lobby working to keep salmonid numbers up. As wild salmonid populations have declined in a much modified world, one of the ways to keep those numbers up is to rear them in hatcheries and release them by the millions. The terns are being persecuted primarily because they eat those hatchery fish (which aren't as good at avoiding predation as wild fish are), and wherever there are hatcheries (there are many), there is strong pressure to keep terns away from the area.

That is what happened in Grays Harbor, it happened in Everett, it happened in Tacoma, it happened on the Lower Columbia River, and now it is happening in Bellingham. I strongly suspect there is more than meets the eye here, that it is not just the Port doing an environmental cleanup. I could be wrong, but the attack on the terns in Bellingham follows a pattern that began in Washington several decades ago.

I think it's time a strong protest is mounted against these activites. Caspian Terns are federally protected wildlife and deserve just as much care as salmonids, but they are not getting it. Instead there is a well-organized campaign against them.

Dennis
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Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net