![[Environment] Rep Perez (D-WA): These big boys [sea lions] are driving up food costs for families by gorging on salmon. I’m doing something about it.](https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/778465b7-a286-4017-99aa-a0b2bc6aec00.png){kind=link}
https://redlib.catsarch.com/r/stupidpol/comments/1ssxoou/rep_perez_dwa_these_big_boys_sea_lions_are/
Hey I’m a fish biologist. Almost all of the entire west coasts fisheries issues are actually due to over allocation of water to the agricultural industry. This has modified a lot of the habitat and made it easier for predators to hunt and harder for salmon to live. A lot of the narratives such as this one are created by the agricultural industry itself to keep any sort of scrutiny of them out of public discourse. The sea lions do actually sit at the dam on the Columbia river and eat a shit load of Salmon but not in a way that is more meaningful from poor water management.
Specifically on the Columbia river, there are a series of dams that Salmon have to migrate through and survival analysis has shown that survival decreases dependent on each dam that the salmon have to traverse. Over allocation of water leads to poor flows and increased temperature which makes the water oxygen poor. This combined with poor ocean conditions have been the major contributing factors to population declines.
The sea lions are mostly a red herring. There is evidence their predation has an impact but their ability to be predators is heavily influenced man made bottle necks in habitat (right below Bonneville dam for example) and an unwillingness to take the difficult measures to actually increase the salmon populations.
“Yes, I understand you were working three jobs just to barely scrape by and have had to go without food yourself to feed your children. Have you tried simply eating cheaper food?”
Did you read what I wrote? I am with you on this issue. I’m simply saying humans are so wealthy as a group that some major event or disaster wouldn’t affect us how it would other animals, or in the past.
I’m reading everything, I believe I understand you completely. The issue you’re having here is that you didn’t write
or however you’d phrase what you’re now positioning your argument as, you wrote something really obviously wrong instead.
I don’t agree with your new position either, for what it’s worth, but I don’t care enough about it to argue about it.
Fair