There are alternatives to shrimp pesticide
Dear Editor Chinook Observer,
(Published Wednesday June 13, 2018, print edition.)
I am writing in response to the Science Conference report. The section on oysters reads more like
marketing rhetoric for chemical companies than it does like actual oyster
related facts.
The oysters most commonly grown in our bay now, are known as
Pacific oysters and were originally from Japan.
These oysters, like most oysters, are not adapted to living on mud. In their natural habitat they attach to hard
clean surfaces. Off bottom culture is
often ideal, to keep them off the mud; it has been practiced in many places
around the world since at least the Roman Era.
Flip and tumble bag culture is nothing new. It is used on the East Coast of the US to
produce the medium sized, premium, deep cupped and neat shelled oysters prized
by the half-shell market. There are many
other types of off bottom culture being used in the US and around the
world. These techniques include tumble
cages, stationary or removable tray culture with substantial supports, and
floating systems.
In many areas of our East and Gulf Coasts, oyster reefs are
being reestablished. They rely on a
variety of structural supports including pyramids or berms made of bagged or
caged oyster shells. They can also
include recycled concrete. Seeding of
oysters on to these structures relies on natural sources or hatchery larvae. In some areas the restored reefs have existed
long enough for oysters to be harvested.
Our native Olympia oysters originally grew on oyster reefs, which kept
them out of the mud, out of conflict with burrowing shrimp, and provided
overall ecosystem benefits as well.
Burrowing shrimp, by the way, are not an invasive
species. They are native to our
area. They are an important environmental
keystone species, providing ecosystem benefits, and they existed here for
millions of years alongside our native oysters.
Burrowing shrimp are repelled by eelgrass.
Destruction of eelgrass beds is on-going in
our bay by the intentional use of herbicides.
It is also well documented that human caused impacts to the ecosystem
have severely reduced burrowing shrimp predators, and changed the ecology in
other ways that benefit some species of burrowing shrimp. Meanwhile, other species of burrowing shrimp
are now threatened by an invasive non-native parasite. There is concern that the affected species may
not survive.
Imidacloprid is a neonicotinoid insecticide that has
recently been banned for all outdoor use in most member states of the European
Union, because of devastating ecosystem effects and negative health effects on
human beings. The very same salmon
mentioned in another part of the article depend on tiny creatures in our bay to
reach a healthy size before entering the ocean.
Imidacloprid spread or sprayed in our bay will further negatively affect
our salmon runs by killing the food they depend on. Many other species depend on the creatures
that would be killed by imidacloprid, including our endangered sturgeon. And imidacloprid is directly toxic to
arthropods of commercial interest, namely our market shrimp and crabs.
The Willapa Grays Harbor Oyster Growers Association is the
only oyster growers association in the US which wishes to use this deadly
ecosystem toxin in coastal waters. The
much larger Pacific Coast Shellfish
Growers Association has publicly repudiated the idea. Please do not forget that oysters are filter
feeders and that if you eat our local oysters you are eating everything that
gets dumped into our bay.
The Department of Ecology
made the right decision, based on peer reviewed scientific studies and
reports. For more information on the
science please visit the Facebook group, Resisting Toxics in CoastalEnvironments.
Thank you,
Harvest McCampbell
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