Killing mammals to save fish
Published Tue, Mar 18 2008 2:09 PM
Technorati Tags: News
For those of you that believe that government can provide the solution to society's ills, I'd like to point out how much of a mess it makes of things in nature. From KOMO-TV…
A federal agency has authorized the lethal removal of sea lions that prey on migrating salmon and steelhead at the base of Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.
…
Sea lions are protected under the Marine Mammals Protection Act, and the allowable kill would be limited to about 85 animals.
…And of course the salmon are protected by the Endangered Species Act. So what we have here is an example of the federal government authorizing the interference with nature… in the name of protecting nature.
Sea lions can be killed because of an amendment to the Marine Mammals Protection Act if the states ask for and receive permission. Meanwhile, the salmon receive federal protection, even though it's just a subspecies we're protecting.
I wonder if the commercial value of the salmon harvest has anything to do with this conflict?
If we're really interested in preserving nature, shouldn't we let nature be nature?
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Angel responded with:
ah yes big government running amok again Perri! :)
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