DRD MotorsportsSucks?
I smell a story here. Does anyone have the Paul Harvey version?
Here's what I have so far.
1. It is illegal to transport Zebra Mussels; so far so good, why would anyone want to?
2. You can be accussed of "transporting zebra mussels" anytime you move a watercraft from a "zebra mussel state" to a non "zebra mussel state".
3. Most recreational vessels do NOT have ballast
tanks of sea
water, and you would generally flush and drain seacocks, and pressure wash the
hull, after pulling it out and before transport.
4. The penalties range from a $2000.00 fine to jail terms.
5. Teams of FBI agents apparently scour the countryside looking for Zebra mussel smugglers so they can fine them.
So,... Is is now against the law to move
boats from zebra mussel to non zebra mussel states?
Is there an official procedure to safely kill all mussels clinging to the
rudder?
Is there a "certification" process one has to go through to be "zebra mussel free"?
Is this process unusually expensive? Can it only be done by a zerbra mussel agency?
What happens if someone does the great loop, then crosses the
Panama canal, and
sails up to
Washington state, you will have to have crossed several zebra mussel and non zebra mussel states to do so. Are you required to do a hual out at each state line marina?
Are the
commercial vessels that brought here here in the first place required to do so?
Hate to sound paranoid, but
history show these efforts generally devolve into permanent
fees that serve no purpose, and have a track
record so far of exactly zero, of actually stopping a species from migrating.
Still waiting for Paul Harvey. Anyone encounter this?
That Paul, (not Harvey, the shipper guy), guy sounded kinda upset, you don't get that angry from some guy at the boarder helping you scrape mussels off of a
boat.
Did the Federal guys tell him stop here for several weeks and pay several thousand for zebra mussel
removal and
certification process, or pay $2000.00 fine??? After the third or fourth state boarder that happened to me I would be a little miffed myself.