The Los Angeles Times informed me of the upstream battle over chinook salmon. Apparently sea lions have been gorging on the endangered chinook salmon near the Bonneville Dam located close to Portland, Oregon. This dam is where the salmon gather and prepare to swim their way up the fish ladders to spawn. Prime time hunting spot for the lions to get their food, but bad news for the salmon that get eaten.
However, the government made a choice to kill six of the most incorrigible of the animals after attempting to scare them off with noise, rubber bullets, and other harassing techniques that failed to work. Was it right or justice to kill those lions??
The author of the article points out that the government made a right choice in this instance. He proves this was a good choice by stating that, although our fish population has increased more than double the amount of last year, there are still other contributing factors that lessen the population of chinook salmon. Such as loss of habitat, global warming, and migration barriers by dams further upstream. So, we cannot in any way say the threat of this species, that is even listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, is abating.
I believe the intended audience was for the citizens that are seeking protection of our wildlife. Whether it is for the people that think killing the lions was unnecessary, or for the people that believe it was the right thing to do. The author proves why it was a smart decision the government made by using facts, theory, and logic.
The end of the editorial is followed up with what the government has previously tried to do to fix the endangered salmon populations, what they are currently doing, and what they should do.