Monster from the Deep
The native shrimp, or the hand holding it?
`
screen shot from KOMO News broadcast
Bad timing.
Two days following the EPA agreeing imidacloprid has played a role in honey bee die-offs, and despite recent studies suggesting "...neonic [imidacloprid] pesticides may also harm birds, butterflies, and water-borne invertebrates", the hand of Willapa Bay shellfish growers has risen from the sediments again with claims of "family farms" being unable to survive without being able to use the neurotoxin on shellfish beds. (see article on EPA press release in Mother Jones) This, despite Willapa Bay shellfish grower Taylor Shellfish (a "5th generation family farm") being opposed to the use of the neurotoxin.
From Mother Jones, January 7
KOMO News has released a story on how shellfish growers in Willapa Bay now claim they did not "withdraw" or cancel the permit to apply the neurotoxin imidacloprid to shellfish beds, only "paused" it. They have now asked to redefine "withdrawn" and use the word "paused" instead and have the permit approved again.
What attorneys get paid to ask:
What is the definition of is? Or in this case, "withdrawn."
(screen shot from KOMO News)
The "heritage of Washington" is not polluting its waters with neurotoxins. It is preventing them from being used in its waters.
The attorney representing shellfish growers in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor claims use of this neurotoxin is about "family farms" and the "heritage of Washington". Not application of a neurotoxin shown to have devastating effects on bee colonies, and more importantly, native aquatic species.
Shellfish attorney Doug Steding, paid to
redefine what's asked.
(screen shot from KOMO News)
The Department of Ecology needs to look beyond what is spoon fed to them by the shellfish growers and their attorneys.
The Department of Ecology now says "...we just don't know" what studies will show. It may be the current studies are correct, which show that imidacloprid and "...neonicotinoids represent a significant risk to surface waters and the diverse aquatic and terrestrial fauna that these ecosystems support." (from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25454246)
Department of Ecology: "We just don't know."
Paid to explain why the permit was
approved in the first place and what
a re-issuance may mean.
(screen shot from KOMO News)
Everybody smile - the camera's on.
PR photos are nice, but they really don't show the reality of what the shellfish growers are doing to the intertidal areas. Every business wants to make a profit, but sometimes it turns out the way that profit is made is not in the state-wide interest nor the long-term benefit to aquatic ecosystems. Shellfish growers need to adapt to the reality of what their consumers want: shellfish grown in pristine waters, not a chemical soup which has lessens the diversification of species so they may make more money.
Shellfish growers out for a walk,
looking for somewhere to step and sink.
(screen shot from KOMO News)
Let loose the PR
Get involved. January 15, from 2 to 4 PM, Governor Inslee will meet with shellfish growers and others to discuss Washington's "Shellfish Initiate" at National Fish and Oyster, 5028 Meridian Rd NE, Olympia, WA. You can also contact him and legislators here to tell them how you feel about pesticides in Washington's tidelands:
Governor Inslee: https://fortress.wa.gov/es/governor/
Legislative and Congressional contacts:
http://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/
Legislative and Congressional contacts:
http://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/
No comments:
Post a Comment