WASHINGTON D.C. — A bill that addresses the problem of sea lions preying on at-risk fish populations passed through a key U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday.

The bill is identical to a U.S. House of Representatives measure that previously passed the House in a 288-116 vote. The Senate bill, introduced by Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., passed through the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, with amendments, and will be sent to the Senate floor for a future vote.

“Wild salmon are central to the culture, economy, and tribal treaty rights of the Pacific Northwest and protecting these fish is crucial to the health of Southern resident orcas,” Cantwell said. “This science-based, bipartisan bill enhances existing tools that state and tribal wildlife managers need to address salmon predation, protect the health of sea lion stocks, and ensure that we are managing wildlife based on the best science available. Pacific salmon should be protected for generations to come.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has monitored sea lion predation on salmon/steelhead below the Bonneville Dam from January through May since 2002. At least 32 wild salmon populations in the Upper Columbia River and Snake Rivers are at risk of predation by sea lions.

Under the Senate bill, the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, which prohibits the killing of marine mammals, is amended and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is allowed to issue one-year permits to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, the Nez Pierce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission and Cowlitz Indian Tribe. The permit allows the killing of up to 100 sea lions in certain portions of the Columbia River and select tributaries.

The permits will only be issued if the sea lions are a part of a population that isn’t already depleted. The permits themselves are exempt from environmental review requirements, as spelled out in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, for five years. Permit holders are required to be trained in natural resource management.