Asian black tiger shrimp (a quarter-pound behemoth) -- Giant cannibal shrimp more than a FOOT long invade waters off Gulf Coast (Photo credit: marsmet501)
The Gulf of Mexico, already suffering from decimated fish populations caused by the BP oil spill, have yet another problem.
Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report numbers of the
massive Asian tiger shrimp in the U.S. Southeast coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, have increased tenfold.
“And they are probably even more prevalent than reports suggest, because the more fisherman and other locals become accustomed to seeing them, the less likely they are to report them,” said Pam Fuller, a USGS biologist.
The shrimp, which can grow to 13 inches long -- compared to eight inches for domestic white, brown and pink shrimp -- are native to Asian and
Australian waters and have been reported in coastal waters from North
Carolina to Texas.
Although the Asian tiger shrimp are eatable, scientists fear the tigers will bring disease and competition for native shrimp already experiencing a disturbing number of mutations and deformity caused by chemicals released during BP’s 2010 oil disaster.
“The Asian tiger shrimp represents yet another potential marine invader
capable of altering fragile marine ecosystems,” NOAA marine ecologist
James Morris told CNN.
“Our efforts will include assessments
of the biology and ecology of this non-native species and attempts to
predict impacts to economically and ecologically important species of
the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.”
In 1998, about 2,000 Asian tiger shrimp were accidentally released from
an aquaculture facility in South Carolina. Farming of the giant shrimp ended in the United States, but they were
caught again off Alabama, North Carolina, Louisiana and Florida.
The last U.S. tiger shrimp farm closed in Florida in 2004, without ever raising a successful crop, according to a USGS fact sheet about the species.
CNN notes that Tiger shrimp females can lay 50,000 to a million eggs, which hatch
within 24 hours, and the shrimp may also be carried to the Gulf waters by currents or in
ballast tanks of marine vessels.
“We’re going to start by searching for subtle differences in the DNA of
Asian tiger shrimp found here – outside their native range – to see if
we can learn more about how they got here,” USGS geneticist Margaret
Hunter said in a statement.
“If we find differences, the next step will
be to fine-tune the analysis to determine whether they are breeding
here, have multiple populations, or are carried in from outside areas.”
Passing this law in California is the first critical step toward requiring GMO labeling in every state.
Volunteers and staff from the California Right to Know Campaign are submitting nearly 1 million signed petitions from registered voters across the state of California to county officials, to place Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act on the Ballot for November 6.
Starting May 1, and extending through May 26, a broad coalition of farmers, health groups, and organic food manufacturers, will attempt to raise one million dollars (i.e. "The Money Bomb"). Donations can be made online, via regular snail mail, and over the phone. All donations will support state GMO-labeling campaigns and their defense from biotech bully lawsuits.
The Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act
This Act will require food manufacturers to identify genetically engineered ingredients on the labels of foods sold in California.
When California voters pass this ballot initiative, the Label Genetically Engineered Food Act will also not allow the common practice of mislabeling genetically engineered foods as "natural" or "all natural." It's imperative to understand why this initiative is so important and how it can affect all Americans, regardless of where you live.
California has the eighth largest economy in the world, so passing a labeling law for genetically engineered foods in California can have the same impact as passing a federal law.
Large food companies are unlikely to accept having dual labeling; one for California and another for the rest of the country. It would be an expensive logistical nightmare, not to mention a massive PR problem.
To avoid the dual labeling, many would likely opt to not include using any genetically engineered ingredients in their product, especially if the new label would be the equivalent of a skull and crossbones. Those who opt not to replace GE ingredients from the get-go will likely find themselves unable to sell their products, as a majority of consumers reportedly will not buy foods once they know they're genetically engineered. Unable to sell their products, such companies will eventually be forced to stop contaminating our food with genetically engineered ingredients, or risk going out of business.
This is what happened in Europe and over 40 countries around the world. It can happen in the U.S. This is why we can't leave California to battle the biotech giants on their own. They need your help! Donating funds to this campaign may be the best money you'll spend all year to safeguard your health, and the health of your children.
Do you know which foods are genetically engineered when you go grocery shopping for your family? Wouldn't you want to know? Genetically engineered foods have been on the market since 1996. It's time they tell us what's in the food we're eating on a daily basis. Making a generous donation to this campaign is the best chance every American has at this point to make that happen!
The Proverbial David versus Goliath
Naturally, the biotech industry is not about to let this pass without a fight. Monsanto, the Farm Bureau, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, along with corporate agribusiness, are all raising millions of dollars to spread their propaganda in an effort to defeat the California Ballot Initiative, just like they did a decade ago in Oregon. At that time, a cabal of corporate giants, including Monsanto and DuPont, calling themselves The Coalition Against the Costly Labeling Law, outspent the pro-labeling group 30-1, and successfully defeated the labeling initiative by scaring voters into believing that labeling genetically engineered foods was unnecessary and would raise food prices.
They did it again in Washington state last month, where campaign contributions to three of the eight politicians on the Senate Agriculture Committee—Democrat Brian Hatfield, and Republicans Jim Honeyford and Mark Schoesler—guaranteed the bill's demise in committee. Right now, the biotech industry is also working to defeat similar GE labeling bills in Vermont, Hawaii, Connecticut, and other states. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, Monsanto spent $8 million on their lobbying efforts in 2010 alone, and gave more than $400,000 in political contributions. Monsanto also spent $120 million on advertising, to convince consumers that genetically engineered foods are safe – despite the overwhelming scientific evidence showing otherwise.
Let's send them a message, loud and clear: We have the right to know what they put into our food!
You can do so by making a donation right now. The money will be used to counter the industry propaganda so that we can win this ballot.
We're Dropping the Money Bomb!
About twenty years ago, the FDA decided to deny consumers the right to know whether their food was genetically altered or not. This shameful regulation was spearheaded by Michael Taylor, a former Monsanto lawyer who transferred into the offices of the FDA. Taylor is not the only ex-Monsanto employee that ended up in a position of power within the US federal government and its regulatory agencies, and this is precisely why previous efforts to get genetically engineered foods labeled have been blocked.
Not so this time!
Ballot Initiatives like the one in California is one way for citizens to take back control from compromised politicians and government officials and bypass them entirely. To sweeten the deal further, a group of "Right to Know" public interest organizations and organic companies have pledged to match the first million dollars raised in this nationwide "Drop the Money Bomb on Monsanto Campaign."
So click here, and help us raise 1 million dollars to win this historic campaign! These "Right to Know" groups include:
The Organic Consumers Association
Mercola.com
Food Democracy Now
Nature's Path
Lundberg Family Farms
Eden Foods, and
The Organic Consumers Fund
Institute For Responsible Technology
Reuters reports that when Michelle Obama made child obesity her signature issue,
she challenged the food industry to reduce added sugar, salt and fat.
The White House sought healthier school lunches, and Congress directed
federal agencies to set nutrition standards. This video explains how the food
industry used their political power to corrupt and silence Congress and The White House.
A case of mad cow disease in a dairy cow in central California has been confirmed by the USDA. The cow was discovered at a rendering facility run by Baker Commodities in
Hanford, California when the company selected
the cow for random sampling.
The infected cow was the fourth ever to be discovered in the United States. Bruce Akey, director of the New York State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Cornell University, acted swiftly to characterize this event as merely "just a random mutation that happens every once in a great while".
No one seems to know when the disease was discovered or exactly where
the cow was raised, only that the cow was at a rendering plant in central
California when the case was discovered.
ABC News reports this is the fourth case of mad cow disease in the U.S. cattle supply
since December 2003. "The first U.S. BSE case was in 2003, found in a
Washington state dairy cow that had been slaughtered. The second case
was found in June 2005 in a cow in Texas, and the third was found in a
cow in Alabama in 2006."
If infected from eating meat contaminated with BSE, the disease manifests in humans as a progressive neurological
or psychiatric disorder with symptoms
that include dementia, seizure, unusual sensory symptoms, dizziness, or
progressive unusual mood changes. The illness usually lasts 14 months,
and the disease is always fatal.
Allegedly, no humans have been infected with mad cow disease in the United States, but only because the disease may have never been diagnosed.
According to ABC News, as of last year, "221 cases of probable vCJD had been reported. This
includes 172 in the United Kingdom, 25 in France, five in Spain, four in
Ireland and three in the United States, with a smattering of cases in
other countries around the world."
The public is being told patients that were diagnosed in
the United States were infected while they were
residing in the UK or living abroad in Saudi Arabia.
A massive outbreak of mad cow disease in the United Kingdom peaked
in 1993 and was blamed for the deaths of 180,000 cattle and more than 150
people.
The decades long use of antibiotics in industrial farming has created an impending medical catastrophe.
Large corporate U.S farms feed antibiotics to pigs, chickens, and cows to stimulate growth and save on feed costs.
But now multidrug-resistant bacteria in chicken, beef,
pork and even vegetables, has reached epic levels.
The explosion of human drug-resistant infections kill tens of thousands. The antibiotic-resistant staph infection known as MRSA kills more Americans than AIDS, and is widespread in the U.S. pig herd.
In The Lancet, leading healthcare experts published an urgent appeal: “We have watched too passively as the treasury of drugs that has served us well has been stripped of its value. We urge our colleagues worldwide to take responsibility for the protection of this precious resource. There is no longer time for silence and complacency.”
In the United States, approximately 80 percent of antibiotic drugs sold are regularly used on food animals in factory farms to promote faster animal growth.
In March, a federal judge ordered the FDA to withdraw approval for the use of common antibiotics in animal feed because of fears that overuse is endangering human health by creating antibiotic-resistant “superbugs”.
But as Bloomberg recently pointed out, "the loopholes are gaping. Even if farmers
comply, they can still feed animals antibiotics for disease
prevention, provided they get a veterinarian’s approval."
And no enforcement mechanisms are in place to
discourage farmers or vets from giving antibiotics to animals to aid growth.
Considering that 80 percent of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are fed to animals, pharmaceutical companies will never voluntarily withdraw from a market whose sales constitute 29 million pounds of antibiotics a year.
Bloomberg notes that many of these drugs, such as fluoroquinolones and
cephalosporins, are front-line treatments for human illnesses
such as urinary-tract infections and pneumonia. But more and more of
the bacteria that cause such diseases have become resistant to
the drugs.
In the grotesque quest for profits and sales, drug companies and factory farms are willing to subject us all to antibiotic resistance superbugs that experts now claim poses as great a threat to global health as Aids and pandemic flu, while the FDA does nothing.
