Lets Washington and tribal groups remove seals and sea lions to protect salmon.
This bill would change federal law to let the State of Washington and certain tribal groups remove seals and sea lions in specific waterways. The goal is to protect endangered salmon and other fish species from being eaten by these marine mammals. It also sets up a program to develop technology to keep seals and sea lions away from salmon habitats without harming them.
Today, federal law limits when and where sea lions can be lethally removed, primarily in a specific part of the Columbia River. After this bill, the authority to remove seals and sea lions would expand to include more types of these animals and much wider geographic areas in the Columbia River basin and other Washington State waterways. It would also allow the State of Washington and certain Indian Tribes to carry out these removals, and a new program would work on non-lethal ways to protect fish.
HR 9621 · 119th Congress · July 9, 2026 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 10/10
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