As far as I'm concerned,  the Fjord Seafoods  and Stolt and the other  foreign  fishpen companies'  executives and boardmembers  probably  could be charged with knowingly engaging in purposeful  bio_terrorism against American stocks of  wild salmon and other natural resources. They KNEW what they were doing

MAINE COAST NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  11/28/01

Snowe, Collins are official "Golden Fleece Award" contenders, for fishpen bailout plan.

Contact  Penobscot Bay Watch  (207) 594_5717

WASHINGTON.   Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins  are officially contenders
for the national "Golden Fleece Award".  The first_ever dual award of the infamous 'fleece'  would recognize the two Senators'  support for a  plan to give three foreign fishpen companies up to 24 million dollars in US taxpayer monies.  The companies, whose repeated violations of federal law  caused a severe fish disease epidemic in Maine's Cobscook Bay, are seeking US government compensation for their losses. 

The Golden Fleece Award was originated by Senator  William Proxmire in the early 1980's  to shed light on wasteful government spending initiatives. At Proxmire's request,  the Award has continued being awarded following his retirement from the US Senate.  See information about the Golden Fleece
Award at :  http://www.taxpayer.net/goldenfleece   

The two Maine politicians' recent efforts to obtain tens of millions in free federal insurance for the three fishpen companies, two Norwegian and on Canadian, have raised eyebrows from the Gulf of Maine to the Potomac River.   The three foreign companies asking for the federal  bailout are Stolt Sea Farm  http://www.stoltseafarm.com  and  Fjord Seafoods http://www.fjordseafood.no/en  , both of Norway, and  Canadian firm Heritage Salmon  http://www.heritagesalmon.com  .

"Senators Snowe and Collins support  millions in federal health insurance for foreign_owned  marine feedlot animals,  but not a penny of health insurance  for Maine people lacking health care coverage. "
said Ron Huber, executive director of Penobscot Bay Watch, a coastal oversight group .  "Something is very fishy about their priorities."

Critics of the Snowe/Collins plan  say that  the three companies took advantage of Maine's lax aquaculture management to dramatically overstock their marine feedlot operations in Maine's easternmost bay.   Extensive manure pileups below the companies'  fish pens, and large numbers of dead livestock decaying in the cages  triggered massive blooms of the ISA virus, which destroy the salmon's internal organs.   Now the companies want to be reimbursed by federal taxpayers for their self_inflicted losses.

In letters to the White House Office of Management and Budget and US Department of Agriculture,   the two politicians claim that the fishpen companies'  epidemic is a natural catastrophe that should qualify them for  tens of millions in emergency aid, and entitle them to permanent free federal livestock  insurance.

"I urge your approval of the recommendation made by USDA Secretary Veneman on October 26," Senator Snowe  wrote to OMB , "that $24 million in Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds be transferred over two years to APHIS to assist in the eradication of this disease from Maine's  waters. " 

APHIS _ the federal Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, would in turn hand the money over  to the companies' investors.

Senator Collins recently wrote to USDA chief Ann Veneman,  noting that ten years of intensive fish farming in downeast Maine  have caused the area to remain   "an economically disadvantaged region 
of our State."   Nevertheless claiming, like Snowe, that  "The state and the Maine Aquaculture industry do not have enough resources of their own to prevent the spread of ISA,"  Collins, too, calls for subsidizing these billion  dollar firms. See her letter, co_signed by Snowe, to the USDA  athttp://www.penbay.org/aqsnowecollins.html 

But observers note  that  the Snowe/Collins plan for "eradicating" the virus consists almost entirely of financially bailing out the three companies' investors for profits they MIGHT HAVE MADE on the disease_ridden livestock in their pens in Cobscook Bay.  The diseased animals must be removed from
Maine waters, killed, and landfilled.   Under the Snowe/Collins plan, Cobscook Bay's natural environment is expected to heal itself by natural self_cleansing.. 

"It doesn't cost 24 million bucks to clear their infested operations from our state's waters", Huber said. He called  the plan "a disgusting display of porkbarrel politics at its worst.   Snowe and Collins certainly are earning their Golden Fleece."

Conservationists also worry that the  induced epidemic of Infectious Salmon Anemia  also threatens the state's remaining stocks of wild Atlantic Salmon, many of which must migrate through the microbe infested waters of Cobscook Bay on their way to breeding streams in the state's interior. 

"In effect,  these blundering companies have turned Cobscook Bay  into a gigantic marine 'plague blanket'  that could wipe out our indigenous wild salmon and sea trout." said Herb Hoche, a retired commercial fisherman. 
Residents of the area  also worry that if the companies' sloppy management qualifies them for getting  federal  livestock insurance, there will be few incentives to control disease and escapes, and incetives fo rfishpen  expansion into more of Maine's waters 

" It's bad enough now", one coastal resident said. " If the these three companies get onto the federal dole, there's going to be a  gold rush of global corporate investors into Maine snapping up every square inch of our coastal waters." 

"You may as well kiss our lobstering and scalloping  industries goodbye  if Snowe and Collins get their way." Huber said.  " We hope they come to their senses and order public hearings on the plan so that Maine people can see who is going to benefit by bailing out these three foreign companies. "

The decision on whether Senator Snowe and Senator Collins receive the "Golden Fleece Award"  will be made in the near future. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE GOLDEN FLEECE AWARD
Contact:  Keith Ashdown     keith@taxpayer.net       202/ 546_8500 x110

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED FISHPEN BAILOUT:
http://www.penbay.org/aqprelnov212k1.html

Penobscot Bay Watch _ People that care about Penobscot Bay 
http://www.penbay.org

END