Abundance and Blame: The Case of the California Sea Lion

Since the enactment of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, California sea lions have become increasingly abundant along the West Coast of North America. Their predation on commercially valuable and depleted salmon populations has contributed to a social conflict over their management. My research uses in depth interviews with stakeholders in Oregon to examine the historical and social roots of the current conflict, social values associated with sea lions and salmon, corresponding legal protections, and potentials for resolution. My analysis finds that while fishers and environmentalists agree on the ecological impacts of sea lion predation, disagreements about managing these impacts stem from different views of the human relationship to the marine environment, degrees of economic dependence on marine resources. and perceptions of environmental legislation. Resolution depends on a critical analysis of the values represented in current legislation and a commitment to creating laws that consider the entire ecosystem.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Oregon

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• McClenachan, Loren

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Cohen, Shaul

• California sea lion
• Salmon
• Environmentalism
• Abundance
• Ecology
• Predation

Statement dc:rights

• Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0-US

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/31673

OAI record oai:identifier

https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Ascholarsbank.uoregon.edu%3A1794%2F31673