HJM 4004 UPDATE, Feb. 25, 2026: The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee did not schedule a hearing on the bill, so it will not progress this session!
UPDATE: On January 29, HJM 4004 cleared the Washington House after it was rushed to a floor vote, where it passed 80–16. The memorial has now moved to the Senate, where it was referred to the Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee. This means the House has already taken the extraordinary step of formally urging Congress and the White House to weaken landmark federal wildlife protections, leaving the Senate as the last line of defense.
HJM 4004, originally introduced during the 2025 legislative session, asks the Trump Administration and Congress to weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to allow states and tribes “greater flexibility” to kill seals and sea lions across Washington’s marine waters and Puget Sound. Although time ran out before the memorial could reach the House floor last session, it returned this year, starting in the Rules Committee, and is now positioned for immediate floor action.
If passed, HJM 4004 would formally align Washington with national efforts to dismantle landmark federal wildlife protections under the guise of addressing salmon declines. Now, Washington is just one step away from formally requesting Congress and the White House weaken one of the most important wildlife protection laws in U.S. history, and doing so in order to expand the killing of seals and sea lions.
We need SENATORS to hear from their constituents NOW, before this dangerous memorial advances any further. Legislators appear largely unaware of the memorial’s shortcomings and consequences, which is why it is critical that constituents speak up and convey why HJM 4004 is both unscientific and morally troubling, including that:
- HJM 4004 asks Congress to weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act to expand killing. The MMPA is a landmark wildlife law enacted to impose precaution and restraint after centuries of indiscriminate killing of marine mammals. Calling for “greater flexibility” is a euphemism for expanded lethal authority, and once federal protections are weakened, Washington would have little control over how broadly killing is authorized, including beyond Washington.
- It scapegoats seals and sea lions instead of addressing human-caused salmon declines. The memorial promotes a false narrative of “conflict” that blames pinnipeds for eating less than 1% of returning fish while ignoring the primary drivers of salmon decline, including overfishing, habitat degradation, dams, and extensive hatchery production. This misdirected blame avoids accountability for the human decisions that have put salmon at risk.
- Expanded killing has already failed to deliver benefits for salmon or orcas. Hundreds of sea lions have been killed near the Bonneville Dam since 2008, yet wild salmon populations continue to decline, and there is no evidence that lethal removal improves outcomes for endangered Southern Resident orcas.
- Most salmon consumed by pinnipeds are hatchery fish, not wild fish. Only a small fraction of returning salmon are wild-origin, meaning lethal removals largely target animals for eating hatchery fish that undermine wild salmon recovery when they reach spawning grounds.
- The approach is ethically indefensible and widely opposed by the public. Seals and sea lions are highly intelligent, social, and sentient beings, and public opposition to killing them is overwhelming. Yet HJM 4004 would normalize expanded killing despite this clear public resistance.
For more details on each of these points and sources, see our talking points.
Take Action to Oppose HJM 4004:
Contact your Senator:
Use our talking points to craft your message and call and/or email your senator. They need to hear directly from their constituents why HJM 4004 must be rejected.
Not sure who your senator is? Use the district finder tool.
Washington can, and must, do better than blaming predators for problems that we caused, and only we can solve. Reject HJM 4004 and stand for science-based, ethical wildlife policy that protects ecosystems, respects wildlife, and addresses the real causes of declines.
Please stay tuned! If HJM 4004 moves in the Senate, we will need your help to stop it!
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