Northern snakeheads and nutria, some of the state’s more well-known invasive animals, are continuing to push out many of Maryland’s native species and doing harm to ecosystems. These invasive species were allowed into this country under a law governing animal imports, which was passed in 1900, and has not been changed since that time.
According to the National Environmental Coalition on Invasive Species, updating this federal legislation, the Lacey Act, will prevent the future introduction of potentially harmful non-native wildlife species and the diseases they carry.
“In this globalized world, animals are traded across continents every day, and the rules governing the live animal trade in this country need to be brought into the 21stCentury,” said Dr. Phyllis Windle, NECIS spokesperson. “Adding a pre-import screening process will prevent the arrival of animals that can potentially harm the ecosystem and economy, endanger native species, or compromise the health of people and animals in this country.”
Nutria, large aquatic rodents native to South America and initially imported to Louisiana, became established in Maryland when a few animals escaped from a fur farm in the 1940s. Nutria are voracious consumers of the vegetation of tidal marshlands, leaving mudflats in their place. Over the past six years, wildlife managers have removed more than 13,000 nutria from the wetlands of the Chesapeake’s Eastern Shore.
Northern snakeheads, imported for the Asian food market, were first discovered in 2002 in a Crofton, MD, pond where they were released by someone who no longer wanted them. Although the snakeheads were eradicated from the pond, they began appearing in the Potomac River in 2004, apparently as the result of a subsequent release.
The species is now well established in the Potomac River and several of its tributaries in Maryland and Virginia, and is competing with other species for food and habitat.
“Despite this country’s bad experiences with invasive animal species, the annual volume of live animal imports into the United States has roughly doubled since 1991,” said Peter Jenkins of Biopolicy Consulting, based in Bethesda, and principal author of Broken Screens: The Regulation of Live Animal Imports in the United States. “The ongoing non-native animal invasions and disease outbreaks they cause could be prevented if the initial entry of risky species was blocked at or before our borders.”
The Lacey Act gives the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service limited power to declare species injurious and to prohibit their import to the United States. During the 111 years since the Lacey Act was adopted, only about 40 animal groups have been prohibited under this legislation, and usually long after the animals have been imported, escaped into the wild, and are causing harm.
By modernizing the Lacey Act, the U.S. Congress can empower the FWS to first assess the potential risks associated with a species proposed for import before deciding whether to allow or prohibit its trade into the United States.
“Under the current law, it takes an average of four years for the federal government to stop the importation of potentially harmful wildlife,” said Kristina Serbesoff-King who directs The Nature Conservancy’s Florida Invasive Species Program. “This action often occurs after a damaging, non-native species has already become established and when eradication can be expensive and nearly impossible.”
As a leading import market, the United States receives hundreds of millions of non-native animals each year. Often, they escape from captivity, are dumped by those who no longer want them, or are released into ecosystems by floods and storms. These non-native animals can spread widely, crow
