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Environmental groups are already lining up in protest of a proposed congressional bill that is hoping to repeal the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. The goal of the newly proposed legislation is to reopen a legal seal hunting season on the West Coast of the United States.
?The original bill was created with good intentions, but has unfortunately created more problems than solutions,? said Thomas Coughlen, the lobbyist behind the new bill. ?The original law has outlived its usefulness and needs to be reevaluated.?
The legislation, known as the Controlled Seal Population Plan (CSPP), would introduce a lottery-style hunt were a select number of hunters could pull tags to partake in a seal hunt.
According to Coughlen, the need for this law is three-fold. First, it gives property owners and businesses the right to protect their property from damage caused by marine mammals. The cry to remove sea lions from areas where the mammals cause damage to waterfront property has been heard for years and is the primary objective of the proposal. Secondly, by creating a draw system to apply for hunting tags of designated species, CSPP will help individual states raise money to rebuild damaged waterfronts and marine environments. Finally, controlling seal populations is crucial to rebuilding endangered salmon species up and down the West Coast.
James Harbaw, dock master of the famed Pier 39 in San Francisco, has been fighting for this movement for years as seals have continually wreaked havoc on this tourist attraction. ?Nearly all of our docks have been destroyed by sea lions over the past 10 years,? he said. ?It is illegal for us to disturb them to protect our property. It has been a very frustrating experience. I have been fighting with the government to introduce this sort of a controlled hunt for years. You can rest assured that I will completely support the new legislation.?
Not every marine mammal will be available in the Controlled Seal Population Plan ?tag lottery? but those on that list include sea lions, harbor seals and walrus. If the CSPP is voted into law, supporters of the bill said they will move to create similar legislation to open up a limited hunt for common dolphin.
While hunting tags will not be issued for dugong, manatee, and other cetaceans, if the new legislation is passed, these species will no longer be ?protected? under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
?This is great news,? says Matthew Flinn, a hunting and fishing guide based in Seattle, Washington. ?We have watched sea lions destroy our salmon fishery for years. Now we can apply for hunting tags to legally take them as trophies. I know this will be unpopular among environmental groups, but they really need to come and see the damage caused by these disgusting animals for themselves before judging us and our people.?
Recreational fishermen are all too familiar with the trouble that marine pinnipeds represent. Not only do they damage healthy fish stocks, they also make fishing in areas with substantial seal populations nearly impossible.
Sea lions are abundant in most marine environments in California and the Pacific Northwest and certainly not endangered. Introducing marine mammals into this category will provide additional revenue streams to individual states and exciting hunting experiences that to date have not been available.
?Hey, elk are mammals. Deer are mammals, and we can hunt them. Why can't we hunt marine mammals?? Flinn asked.
Several national gun-rights advocacy groups and hunting organizations have already shown their support of this controlled seal hunt proposition. But, more research is still needed.
?The original bill was created with good intentions, but has unfortunately created more problems than solutions,? said Thomas Coughlen, the lobbyist behind the new bill. ?The original law has outlived its usefulness and needs to be reevaluated.?
The legislation, known as the Controlled Seal Population Plan (CSPP), would introduce a lottery-style hunt were a select number of hunters could pull tags to partake in a seal hunt.
According to Coughlen, the need for this law is three-fold. First, it gives property owners and businesses the right to protect their property from damage caused by marine mammals. The cry to remove sea lions from areas where the mammals cause damage to waterfront property has been heard for years and is the primary objective of the proposal. Secondly, by creating a draw system to apply for hunting tags of designated species, CSPP will help individual states raise money to rebuild damaged waterfronts and marine environments. Finally, controlling seal populations is crucial to rebuilding endangered salmon species up and down the West Coast.
James Harbaw, dock master of the famed Pier 39 in San Francisco, has been fighting for this movement for years as seals have continually wreaked havoc on this tourist attraction. ?Nearly all of our docks have been destroyed by sea lions over the past 10 years,? he said. ?It is illegal for us to disturb them to protect our property. It has been a very frustrating experience. I have been fighting with the government to introduce this sort of a controlled hunt for years. You can rest assured that I will completely support the new legislation.?
Not every marine mammal will be available in the Controlled Seal Population Plan ?tag lottery? but those on that list include sea lions, harbor seals and walrus. If the CSPP is voted into law, supporters of the bill said they will move to create similar legislation to open up a limited hunt for common dolphin.
While hunting tags will not be issued for dugong, manatee, and other cetaceans, if the new legislation is passed, these species will no longer be ?protected? under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
?This is great news,? says Matthew Flinn, a hunting and fishing guide based in Seattle, Washington. ?We have watched sea lions destroy our salmon fishery for years. Now we can apply for hunting tags to legally take them as trophies. I know this will be unpopular among environmental groups, but they really need to come and see the damage caused by these disgusting animals for themselves before judging us and our people.?
Recreational fishermen are all too familiar with the trouble that marine pinnipeds represent. Not only do they damage healthy fish stocks, they also make fishing in areas with substantial seal populations nearly impossible.
Sea lions are abundant in most marine environments in California and the Pacific Northwest and certainly not endangered. Introducing marine mammals into this category will provide additional revenue streams to individual states and exciting hunting experiences that to date have not been available.
?Hey, elk are mammals. Deer are mammals, and we can hunt them. Why can't we hunt marine mammals?? Flinn asked.
Several national gun-rights advocacy groups and hunting organizations have already shown their support of this controlled seal hunt proposition. But, more research is still needed.
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