Thursday July 16, 2026
Nisqually Valley News —
On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, introduced H.R. 9637, the Protecting Columbia River Salmon Act, a bill that would allow Southwest Washington’s Indian Tribes to lethally remove California and Steller sea lions in specific portions of the Columbia River.
The bill is part of an effort by the congresswoman to modify the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), which has enforced protections for sea lions since 1972, according to a news release from Gluesenkamp Perez.
In the 1950s, California sea lion populations hovered around 8,000, spurring lawmakers to consider legislation to protect them. By the time the MMPA was introduced in 1972, populations had risen to around 75,000. Today, they number well over 300,000. By the numbers, the MMPA was successful in protecting sea lions. But it also limited Tribal agency and the ability to undertake the traditional population controls that balanced the river ecosystem for centuries, according to the release.
“I have local fishermen telling me that nearly every salmon they pull out of the river have wounds from sea lions,” Gluesenkamp Perez said in the release. “The fact is, politicians in D.C. aren’t out on our rivers. They’re still living in a world of 1970s data points. If we want to keep things in balance, we need to restore agency to our Tribal partners and their designees. In living memory, Columbia River Salmon was subsistence food. If you lost your job, you knew your family wouldn’t go hungry if you were a good fisherman. Now, it’s in danger of becoming a luxury good — and that would be a profound loss to our culture and heritage. This bill is about supporting the agency that comes with living off the land and restoring Tribes’ ability to rebalance the ecosystem to support salmon runs.”