Quote:
Originally Posted by jsmth321
I suppose that would be up to the biologists and other experts at the US Fish and Wildlife service to determine.
Appears there were a group if 14 democrats who were bored.
The main sponsor is from Guam and Guam does have a serious issue of introduced species that are wrecking havoc on native bird populations, so I can see why it would be of importance to that particular member of congress.
It would be better to mandate each state/territory to bring up their own list as a species that is a threat to Florida may not be one in Maine.
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Hmm, interesting. Thanks for the info on Guam. Did some reading on this US 'territory'. Seems they do have some serious issues with their ecology. Apparently mainly due to tourism though, before the EPA got in there an laid down some rules. Good article on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guam
All kinds of horror stories re the introduction of non native species, but I don't really see the correlation to our hobby, other than overfishing maybe. Introduction of domestic livestock, tourism, agriculture... Not hobbyists creating the problem as much as the human species doing what they do, move in, develop and try to make a living.
"Aquatic preserves
As a vacation spot for scuba divers, efforts have been made to protect Guam's coral reef habitats from pollution, eroded silt, and overfishing that have led to decreased fish populations. In recent years the Department of Agriculture, Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources has established several new marine preserves where fish populations are monitored by biologists.[20] Prior to adopting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards, portions of Tumon bay were dredged by the hotel chains in order to provide a better experience for hotel guests.[21][22] Tumon Bay has since been made into a preserve. A federal Guam National Wildlife Refuge in northern Guam protects the decimated sea turtle population in addition to a small colony of Mariana fruit bats.[23]"