[Coral-List] political arguments on coral-list

Wed May 28 08:33:36 EDT 2014

Welcome back Gene!  While you were away, I heard from some colleagues
that a couple of people had taken offense at how I had responded to
your posting about NOAA's role and the sanctuary's role in managing
Mosquito spraying in the Florida Keys since we are in the US
Department of Commerce.  I did not read the postings from a couple of
people because I never do for my own reasons, but heard they were
pretty pointed.

People don't know how far back our friendship and scientific
collaboration goes and how we have always been able to sometimes
strongly disagree without it being personal.  We both have developed
thick skin, but we can't let that be an excuse for not being polite
and respectful.  What coral list readers didn't see was our exchange
that followed.

For that reason, I apologize for implying that you " sail into the
sunset. "  it was the wrong way to say or suggest that you do what I
know you do every summer and that is to cruise the Keys in Papa San
from Key Largo to Key West.  It was a bad choice of phrasing on my
part and I hope it didn't hurt your feelings in any way.

But now, to only use one example of how far off the mark you were by
implying NOAA sanctuary managers, because NOAA is in the US Department
of Commerce, are pressured by tourism to allow mosquito spraying in
the Florida Keys is absolutely false.  None of us sanctuary managers
have ever received pressure from the tourist industry, either in
writing or orally, to allow any level of spraying just to make the
tourist comfortable.  There are people among the 8000 on the coral
list from international audiences who I do not want to think or
believe our decisions or management actions are based solely on the
commercial interests of the sanctuary.

NOAA does not manage mosquito spraying but the Florida Keys Mosquito
Control District does, along with local and state health departments.
The officials from the Mosquito Control District are members of our
EPA/ State/NOAA water quality steering committee and they routinely
meet with us.  EPA and the USFWS have funded a considerable amount of
research over the years and the results have helped in the management
of types of sprays and their targets and the methods by which the
sprays are deployed.  Mosquito spraying is managed by multiple
agencies with health factors being first and foremost.  Like the
Everglades National Park, some areas in the Keys are off limits,
including over the waters of the Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary.  The sanctuaries jurisdiction is only below the high tide
mark and does not include land.  Over the years, we have worked with
the Mosquito Control District to tighten up the paths of the ultra-low
volume spray so it overlaps the water as little as possible.

But the tourism industry has never pressured sanctuary officials for
more spraying.

Gene , what you throw out in a sentence takes paragraphs and pages for
a response.  I just don  't have the time, but I don't want our
international colleagues to think our decisions are about the almighty
US dollar.

Again, welcome back Gene!!
Billy

Billy D. Causey, Ph.D.
Southeast Regional Director
NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

33 East Quay Road
Key West, Florida 33040

Phone:
305 809 4670 office
305 395 0150 mobile
305 293 5011 fax

Email:
billy.causey at noaa.gov

Billy D. Causey, Ph.D.
Southeast Regional Director
NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

33 East Quay Road
Key West, Florida 33040

Phone:
305 809 4670 office
305 395 0150 mobile
305 293 5011 fax

Email:
billy.causey at noaa.gov

> On May 28, 2014, at 6:59 AM, Eugene Shinn <eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu> wrote:
>
> Darn, I went off on my boat for 4 days and missed all stimulation folks
> on the list have been having.  Good to see the list is now up to around
> 8,000 readers. Any one have an idea of how many subscribe to CORAL
> REEFS? compared to the coral list.
> Seems there are some good reasons for publishing on the coral-list
> especially if you are not worrying about tenure. It works at warp speed
> where as CORAL REEFS takes months and there are all those reviewers and
> revisions to deal with. Gene
>
> --
>
>
> No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
> ------------------------------------ -----------------------------------
> E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
> University of South Florida
> College of Marine Science Room 221A
> 140 Seventh Avenue South
> St. Petersburg, FL 33701
> <eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
> Tel 727 553-1158
> ---------------------------------- -----------------------------------
>
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