Oceana Responds as House Advances Bill to Allow Widespread Killing of Seals and Sea Lions in Washington State - Oceana USA

Oceana Responds as House Advances Bill to Allow Widespread Killing of Seals and Sea Lions in Washington State

Press Release Date: September 15, 2026

Location: Washington

Contact:

Megan Jordan, Jamie Karnik | email: mjordan@oceana.org, jkarnik@oceana.org | tel: 202.868.4061, 907-635-8722

Oceana released the following statement after the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee today advanced legislation that allows the intentional killing of seals and sea lions throughout Washington state’s rivers, estuaries and bays, Puget Sound, and along the outer Washington coast. The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA), seeks to rebuild salmon populations, but undermines the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which first established protections for marine mammals in 1972.  

“This bill is appalling and scientifically indefensible — killing seals and sea lions is simply not going to recover endangered salmon,” said Oceana’s Fisheries Campaign Director Ben Enticknap. “Restoring threatened and endangered salmon populations requires addressing human activities like dams, habitat degradation, fishing, and climate change. Focusing on killing marine wildlife will do nothing to address the main challenges facing salmon recovery.” 

This bill comes after extensive cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency that studies and manages fisheries and marine mammals across the country.