Another Fishy--Err, Crabby--Use of Taxpayer Money
Posted by Brett Davis - August 11, 2009The program is meant to stop European green crabs from taking jobs away from American crabs. No, not really. First discovered in the state in 1998, the European green crab—which can vary from reddish to a dark mottled green—is a voracious predator that feeds on clams, oysters and mussels, and could have a catastrophic impact on the state’s shellfish stocks. Hence the early detection through monitoring program.
Two questions come to mind here: 1) Why has the state inserted itself in the role of ecosystem micro-manager? Perhaps an argument could be made for that role when it comes to human activities that affect the ecosystem (i.e. fishing, logging, hunting, etc.) but are we now saying the state should attempt to manage and control the way species within the ecosystem interact with each other? If that’s the case, there is no foreseeable end to the expansion of government or limits on the role of the state. 2) Given the cries of doom and claims that “people will die” if the state didn’t raise taxes during the legislative session to pay for state priorities, should keeping an eye on green crabs still be among the list of funded priorities? (If only the state kept as close an eye on the expenditure of taxpayer greenbacks!)
Why is the state paying for this? Shouldn’t the shellfish industry be paying to keep tabs on these invading crabs? At the very least, how about local governments?
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