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Post by ridgecommander on Oct 28, 2012 19:31:29 GMT -5
I'm sure there is a small market for the meat. Of all the meat protein consumed in this country, store bought venison is a tiny, tiny invisible drop in the bucket. The argument that the USA needs deer farming to feed the population does not hold water. Even Dutch basically called the meat a By-product of the real purpose of the industry: trophy deer that are larger and easier to harvest than wild ones! It is way deeper than deer. The farming of Bison is much larger than deer. Then throw in the farming of all of the other wildlife that is farmed for food and by products that has the same potential to cause harm to our wild populations. Heck, in Pa we purposely release farm raised trout and pheasants into the wild. Who knows what diseases are coming. Point is sometimes the benefits may be worth the risks. There are risks with all farming of wildlife. One thing is for sure, when we start to reel in the farming of wildlife, there will be many folks lined up to stop all of it for those reasons and others that play into the challenges that hunters and fisherman face moving forward. |
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Post by dennyf on Oct 28, 2012 20:26:34 GMT -5
Do you know what happens when farmed bison contract brucellosis, that might spread to any areas where wild bison still exist?
By extension, that is a hot issue out at Yellowstone, where wild bison frequently stray onto private ranch land outside of the park. Ranchers typically used to shoot them on sight, lest they infect their cattle herds with brucellosis.
To add to the point I made elsewhere, why in the world would farmed cervids still be allowed to be moved about, when we now know how many different operations may be connected to those already under quarantine as suspected areas of CWD exposure??
How many diseases have been an issue with raised/released trout or pheasants? There are other issues some have with raised/released fish and fowl, but they don't rise to the level of contaminating wild members of the species with diseases specific to the species.
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Post by galthatfishes on Oct 28, 2012 22:44:25 GMT -5
Trout that contract whirlings or other diseases are killed; the whole area is sterilized and the process starts over.
With prions, there is no cure- you can't just "sterilize the tank" and start over.
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Post by dennyf on Oct 28, 2012 22:52:09 GMT -5
Have had "the Whirlies" a few times, but I seldom eat trout?  |
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Post by fleroo on Oct 29, 2012 9:19:36 GMT -5
My guess is that it's like the Mayor in the movie "Jaws" not wanting to let the public know there is a shark in the area, knowing how busy the holiday beach season is.  In other words. There's 900,000 income generating hunters out there in PA. Most Deer hunt to ONLY Deer hunt. If word gets out that their harvested Deer may have the chance of being infected with some horrible neurological disease, what might that do to the "fringe" hunter ? Perhaps many will not hunt because of it..... thus, much income lost in many arenas. Just a thought. |
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Post by melody on Oct 29, 2012 10:23:41 GMT -5
More likely its because the cervid farming community is on such a smaller scale financially than say the PA beef or hog industry, and Ags funds are short to begin with, so the less they have to focus or spend on deer farmers, the better.
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Post by galthatfishes on Oct 29, 2012 11:21:41 GMT -5
If Ag cared about hunters, Fleroo; you would have seen them announce their industry meeting a lot sooner than a month after the first positive.
QDMA was involved in writing the plan as was PFSC. Ya think if they would have cared they would have reached out sooner, or directly called either org.
They didn't.
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Post by fleroo on Oct 29, 2012 11:57:57 GMT -5
Not saying they care about the hunters, but more like they are keeping those 3 nasty letters C...W...D, hush-hush at the behest of perhaps state gov't. officials at ALL levels. That may be a bit too conspiritorial, but a thought nonetheless.
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Post by galthatfishes on Oct 29, 2012 12:25:41 GMT -5
I'd call it being more inept; and too embarrased or too big of egos to reach out for help.
Hell, they couldn't even kill 10 deer without one getting loose; and they cant figure out how to put a freaking fence back up.
Deputy Secretary Meals told me they have the authoiry to seize properties if necessary. So do it. Right now; their excuse for not having the fence back up is "we are consulting with our attorneys".
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In other words. There's 900,000 income generating hunters out there in PA. Most Deer hunt to ONLY Deer hunt. If word gets out that their harvested Deer may have the chance of being infected with some horrible neurological disease, what might that do to the "fringe" hunter ? Perhaps many will not hunt because of it..... thus, much income lost in many arenas. Just a thought.