Fishermen suspected after 6 sea lions are killed in Oregon

By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER, Associated Press Writer, General Science / Biology

A sea lion swims along the Columbia River, past Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife investigators on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at Bonneville Dam, just east of Portland, Ore. The deaths of six sea lions are under investigation after the bodies of the federally protected animals were found in open traps on the Columbia River and appeared to have been shot. (AP Photo/Greg Wahl-Stephens_

(AP) -- There's "protected" on paper and there's "protected" on the river. Under a 1972 federal law, certain species of sea lion cannot be harmed. But the Columbia River region is big enough, and parts of it are wild and isolated enough, to hide many sins.

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