Northwest Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act of 2026 builds on nearly two decades of tribal and state co-management experience to protect struggling salmon and steelhead runs
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) welcomes the introduction of H.R. 9621, the Northwest Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act of 2026. This bipartisan legislation from Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA-5) and Rep. Emily Randall (D-WA-6) strengthens the tools developed by tribal and state fisheries co-managers to address the growing impact of pinniped predation on Columbia basin salmon and steelhead.
The bill amends Section 120(f) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the 2018 provision that first recognized tribal co-management authority and allowed area-based removal of California and Steller sea lions in the Columbia River. While that authority has produced measurable results, such as winter steelhead at Willamette Falls, its geographic scope is limited to the Bonneville Dam tailrace and below Willamette Falls.
The legislation was informed by the experience and lessons learned by tribal and state fisheries co-managers who have implemented sea lion deterrence and removal programs at Bonneville Dam and Willamette Falls since the mid-2000s.
H.R. 9621 makes three changes:
- Expands the removal area to cover the entire Columbia River, not just designated haul-out sites;
- Grants adaptive management authority so co-managers can respond to changing conditions with science-based decisions; and
- Establishes a technology accelerator to fund non-lethal exclusion technologies for seals and sea lions.
The Columbia River sea lion situation emerged in the early 2000s, driven by three converging forces: Healthy and robust California and Steller sea lion populations recovered under the MMPA to the point of approaching carrying capacity pushing more male animals further from rookeries; California’s sardine, anchovy, and herring stock crashes due to warming ocean conditions pushed male sea lions north to the Columbia River’s eulachon (smelt) runs, and shifting run timing can overlap with early salmon and steelhead runs; and learned foraging behavior, passed between individual male sea lions, that draws them back the Columbia each year. Of those three drivers, co-managers say targeted, in-river removal is the most effective intervention capable of protecting already-threatened salmon runs on a timeline that matters, which is what the amended §120(f) authority is designed to do.
Monitoring by the regional co-managers has identified sea lion predation near Bonneville Dam as the most significant cause of adult upriver spring chinook mortality over the past two decades, with impacts falling heavily on ESA-listed populations. In 2015, the worst year on record, sea lions took an estimated 224,450 salmon between the river mouth and Bonneville Dam, which was 48 percent of the spring chinook run and about four times the combined tribal and non-tribal harvest that year.
The bill’s expanded removal authority will have a negligible effect on the two sea lion populations involved, both MMPA recovery successes. California sea lions number roughly 275,000 coastwide and are near carrying capacity; Steller sea lions number roughly 70,000 and continue growing at about 5 percent annually. Removals under the current program (398 California and 116 Steller sea lions since it began) amount to a small fraction of a percent of either population, well under the annual Potential Biological Removal the MMPA sets for each stock (14,011 California, 2,176 Steller). Because only males range as far as the Columbia River, removals don’t impact the breeding females and pups that drive population growth.
“For years, tribal and state fisheries managers have shown that strategic, science-based removal of sea lions is an effective way to protect Columbia basin salmon and steelhead and prevent the habituation of this learned sea lion behavior. This legislation takes nearly 20 years of experience addressing this issue and gives it room to work beyond just the short stretch of river below Bonneville Dam. We appreciate Rep. Baumgartner and Rep. Randall’s work which will have direct and measurable benefits to fish survival, including struggling populations listed under the Endangered Species Act.”
—Aja DeCoteau, Executive Director, CRITFC
“Columbia basin salmon are not just a resource for our people — they are central to our ceremonies, health, economies, and identities. For decades, the entire region has invested enormous public resources in dam passage improvements, habitat restoration, and hatchery programs. Those investments are at risk if we allow in-river pinniped predation to continue unchecked. This bipartisan legislation lets us build on the best available science to fully address this situation before more of the region’s investment, and more of our way of life, is lost. We thank Rep. Baumgartner and Rep. Randall for advancing bipartisan solutions and for standing with tribes and other co-managers on this issue.”
—Ashton Picard, Chair, CRITFC