Mounted gull loaned to museum

Mounted gull loaned to museum

The mounted gull on display for several years at a Camden, Maine, restaurant is now on loan to the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, according to Thomas J. Healy, special agent in charge of law enforcement for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Northeast Region. The gulls owner voluntarily abandoned the mount to Service special agents today.

"Our special agents visited the restaurant in October in response to a complaint from an individual concerned about possible illegal take of the bird, an issue we take very seriously," Healy said.

; The gulls owner, Johanna Tutone of Chappys Chowder House, told Service special agents that she purchased the mounted gull some 20 years ago.

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; "Selling and buying the mounted gull constitutes illegal commercialization of wildlife, a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act," Healy said.

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; The 1918 act prohibits illegally killing or harming birds. Because the gull reportedly was killed in the 1800s, long before the act, its demise is not a law enforcement issue, according to Healy. However, the act, as well as several other wildlife-protection laws, prohibits commercialization.

; The Service has loaned the mount to the museum. Museum Executive Director Niles Parker agreed to loan it back to the Camden restaurant during the summer. Information about the Migratory Bird Treaty Act will be displayed with the mount.

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; "We consider this a successful resolution of this situation, and we appreciate the cooperation of the museum and the restaurant owner," Healy said. "In addition, we have an opportunity to acquaint people with our nations wildlife laws. The purpose of these laws is to conserve wildlife," Healy said. "While the monetary value of individual transactions can be small, the larger picture is illegal traffic in wildlife internationally with an estimated value in the billions of dollars."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

-FWS-