Many long years ago I worked on party boats out of southern California. In those days the sea lions were not considered the darlings that the environmentalists have gotten them to be today. No protection. When one or more showed up to chow down on fish hooked by the anglers we gave them a dose of "lead poisoning". I kept an old pistol strapped on and I got pretty good at doing a quick draw eradication from the fantail whenever a smart alec sea lion poked it's head up...sometimes still holding the fish it had just removed from someone's line.
I have seen first hand the tremendous toll these beasts take on salmon and steelhead once they start running up rivers and get bottled up below a dam. Each sea lion can kill many fish each day...and they don't always eat what they kill. You can see them just tossing the mortally wounded fish around and then they go after others. Darlings indeed.
I have seen first hand the tremendous toll these beasts take on salmon and steelhead once they start running up rivers and get bottled up below a dam. Each sea lion can kill many fish each day...and they don't always eat what they kill. You can see them just tossing the mortally wounded fish around and then they go after others. Darlings indeed.