Rulemaking to List Black Carp Under Lacey Act. Economic Analysis.(Rebvised 2007)

摘要

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a final rule to add live black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) to the list of injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act. An injurious wildlife listing will prohibit the importation and interstate transport of all black carp (diploid and triploid black carp, gametes, and viable eggs). This document analyzes the economic impacts of three alternatives: No Action Alternative (Baseline); Alternative 1 Add diploid black carp to the list of injurious wildlife; and Alternative 2 (Preferred Alternative) Add diploid and triploid black carp to the list of injurious wildlife. Black carp are not marketed as a foodfish nor are they exported by U.S. farmers. However, they are used by the aquaculture industry to control digenetic trematodes in aquaculture ponds. Because domestic black carp broodstock are adequate, the aquaculture industry does not currently import black carp from sources outside the United States and most likely will not resume imports. An injurious wildlife listing will not prohibit intrastate transport or any use of black carp within State lines. Any regulations adhering to the use of black carp within individual States are the responsibility of each State. As noted by Tucker et al (2004), economic losses resulting from infectious diseases are difficult to quantify because record keeping varies among farmers and many diseases go unreported. Estimating the potential impacts associated with adding black carp to the list of injurious species required a number of assumptions for the catfish, hybrid striped bass, and baitfish industries due to the uncertainties related to trematode outbreaks and the use of black carp to control those outbreaks. To account for these uncertainties, this analysis presents a variety of potential scenarios that may occur. The Baseline (No Action Alternative) is the status quo. Under the Baseline, the aquaculture industry will not incur any additional economic impacts.