Sure, and thank you for that question.
For the Columbia River, I think what's important to understand is that this is a very spatially restricted solution to a problem of excessive consumption of salmon by sea lions caused by man-made infrastructure, mostly dams and fish ladders.
I think what's important, really, are the numbers. The total annual allowable removal of sea lions there is around 900. It's 10% of what a sustainable harvest rate for that population would look like. That is completely different from a 50% reduction. The motivation behind the removal rate in the Columbia River is specifically not to harm the population or change the viability of the population. It's a very different proposal from a large-scale reduction in seal populations.
There are lessons for us for British Columbia. I think a priority, if we're concerned about salmon consumption by seals, would be to look at whether there are situations of excessive consumption that are created by human infrastructure where we could actually alter or return it to a more natural state to have a restoration that would both benefit the salmon, in terms of better habitat, and remove that problem of excessive pinniped predation?