BILL REQ. #:  S-3698.1 

Read first time 01/09/2006.   Referred to Committee on Natural Resources, Ocean & Recreation.

     TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, Seals, sea lions, pikeminnow, bull trout, common merganser ducks, Caspian terns, double-crested cormorants, ring-billed gulls, and California gulls are active predators upon anadromous fish such as salmon and steelhead trout; and
     WHEREAS, Anadromous fish populations are significantly reduced in numbers throughout Washington state, and some stocks have been listed as threatened or endangered species; and
     WHEREAS, Many more anadromous fish stocks are likely to be listed as threatened or endangered; and
     WHEREAS, In order to allow certain salmon and steelhead populations to recover and be sustained at viable levels, it will be necessary to have more flexibility to manage known predators in identifiable areas where they cause unacceptable mortality levels in specific fish runs; and
     WHEREAS, While amendments to the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act allow for lethal removal of problem seals or sea lions, the process established to do so is cumbersome and time-consuming and will do little to protect the fish; and
     WHEREAS, Other predators such as pikeminnow, bull trout, common merganser ducks, Caspian terns, double-crested cormorants, ring-billed gulls, and California gulls continue their predation of anadromous fish;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that Congress allow for a more common-sense approach to managing predators of anadromous fish stocks, especially those species listed as threatened or endangered, and that the approach incorporate reasonable, balanced, and prudent controls of such predators in Washington state, including the use of less cumbersome lethal and nonlethal removal options when and where necessary. In asking for this relief, it is not our intention to decimate or eliminate anadromous fish predators but to protect anadromous fish.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.