One question I have: why only specifically cetaceans? While a few seals do exist off the northeastern and eastern coasts of the region, and whales do exists along our Atlantic coast, why specifically cetaceans? Is it because they're cuter or something? I'm all for animal conservation, and I'm also all for protecting marine animals in Dixie, but while this bill does raise a good point, I don't particularly like the execution. It's too broad to protect any individual animal specifically to its needs, and too narrow to include all of the creatures who don't belong to this particular infraorder.
I don't disagree on the fact that the initial text seems to specify solely on cetaceans, however Clause 3 through 7 would apply broadly and benefit/ preserve all ocean wildlife. I have also reached out to the initial author of these amendments if they'd like to expand on it and provide better clarification.
Yes, I do agree that a fair amount of this act actually makes sense and would
generally benefit oceanlife, but I don't get why this bill's title as well its clauses regarding cetaceans have such a too broad yet too narrow scope when it comes to its protections.
Earlier this year, I wrote a bill that made it to the parliament floor, the Please Don't Club Seals Act
(FT 14.25). After the end of debate, I asked myself a question that I didn't ask myself while writing it: What makes sealing so special? According to the
IUCN Red List, which is claimed by many to be a biological diversity index of great authority, there are three recognized specials of pinniped that are currently endangered:
the Caspian seal,
the Mediterranean monk seal, and
the Hawaiian monk seal. While there are 3 recognized seal species that are endangered, there are,
according to the IUCN themselves, over 32,000 species of animal in the world currently threatened with extinction. So, why do we care so much about giant pandas and seals and not about
Atlantic bluefin tunas or
Vu Quang oxen, which are in just as big, or if not bigger, trouble? Well, the fact of the matter is that us humans don't really care about these particular species, either because they aren't cute enough, or because they aren't that useful for human domestication.
We do these horrible acts to pretty much every animal under the sun, from the pinniped to the pig. There is just as much animal torture in your average fur coat as there is inside your average Big Mac. The only difference is that fur coats don't taste that good. Unless if you plan on passing a bill banning the killing of cows and pigs later down the line, I don't see why these special protections are necessary.
As for the laws preventing seals and whales from being caught in fishing nets, I think it's best for everyone that we omit that from this particular bill and discuss it in its own separate bill.
