Bee-killing Imidacloprid Banned in Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon and Washington Wildlife Refuges by Fish and Wildlife Service; DOE - "Spray on"

                                                                                                                                               

Will Seattle's organic restaurants

react to the shellfish industry's demand

that the Department of Ecology allow

imidacloprid to be sprayed in Willapa Bay?

 

In one incident 50,000 bumblebees were killed

by imidacloprid in Oregon.



(from Seattle Organic Restaurants)



Use of Imidacloprid to be banned by Fish and Wildlife Service in Wildlife Refuges
Effective January 1, 2016, the Fish and Wildlife Service will no longer allow neonicotinoid pesticides, which imidacloprid is, to be used in any agricultural activity within a wildlife refuge. A press release from the Center for Biological Diversity noted the FWS is the first government agency to issue such a ban. The CBD noted:

The ban will affect nearly 9,000 acres of farmed wildlife refuge lands, limiting the toxic effects of neonicotinoids on pollinators, birds and ecosystems. The Fish and Wildlife Service has also announced that prior to the ban going into effect in 2016, refuge managers must exhaust all alternatives before allowing neonicotinoids to be used on refuges and also must analyze whether neonicotinoid use would harm species protected under the Endangered Species Act. (underline for emphasis)

Washington's Department of Ecology:

"Spray On"

Aerial spraying and hand application

in Willapa Bay will begin Saturday, July 26

 

Washington's Department of Ecology announces spraying of Imidacloprid to begin in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor - thank you shellfish industry

While the FWS has announced the ban, on July 25 the Department of Ecology released a statement announcing it will, instead, begin the aerial and hand application of imidacloprid in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor to "control" the native burrowing shrimp which the shellfish industry has found to be an inconvenience. Instead of using above ground growing techniques the shellfish industry has instead simply said "we can only spray chemicals."

 

Wouldn't you really want

to go eat something else

somewhere else?

Green sturgeon

 

One less native species to worry about so non-native shellfish may be grown

These native species, a primary food source for Green Sturgeon and other native species, soften sediments and make growing oysters difficult. Japanese eelgrass also finds soft sediments difficult to grow in so when the burrowing shrimp are gone sediments firm and Japanese eelgrass takes hold. This in turn creates another perceived problem for the shellfish industry which they claim requires an additional chemical application, imazamox, a separate permit process DOE is working through for the shellfish industry. All to be able to grow non-native Pacific oysters and non-native manila clams.

 

"What is that taste from?"

"It's the water."

(thank you for that, Olympia beer)



 

 

One more ingredient added to the "chemical soup" which gives a Willapa Bay oyster is unique "meroir" - is this really organic?

Already described as a "chemical soup" by the office of Washington's Attorney General, Willapa Bay's shellfish will now have another chemical to filter out of the water, in turn becoming part of their unique "meroir"* tasted when consumed. How the oyster connoisseurs will describe that taste is unknown. Whether Seattle's organic restaurants and outlets will react is also unknown.

*the concept of meroir recognises the existence of specific and unique properties and functions of a certain area of the sea