Legalities of selling fish online?

[Redbled]

I was browsing aquabid, and noticed a guy from Texas was selling a Perch. He advertised that he caught it himself, and had raised it. I thought this was illegal? Somehow had the impression that you could only sell native fish if you had bred and raised them. What am I missing here? I also wanted to know what it meant when someone said a fish was cultured? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Redbled]

OK, so either 34 people had no clue what I was asking, or hated my topic. Come on, someone help me out here.

 

[OrkyBetta]

I don't have a clue, but I THINK it's legal. People catch bettas and ship them over here.

I think as long as the fish was caught legally, it can be sold legally too.

 

[littlefishie]

As far as I know, it just can't be re-released into the wild after it's been caught.

That's about the extent of my knowledge on the subject.

 

[Doggfather]

Every state/territory has it's own laws, or variations of the law, so you'd need to check it out with the relevant state authorities if you want a definant answer.

 

[Redbled]

So what does it mean when fish are cultured?

 

[Redbled]

"Question
I would like to setup an aquarium with native fish; bluegill, perch, bullhead. Is this legal? Can I get a permit? what are the laws on natural aquariums.

Answer
You can keep any legally caught fish in the state, during the open season. So if you are out fishing and you catch a couple of bluegill, perch and a bass, you could take those fish home and put them in your aquarium. Make sure the bass is at least 14 inches. You could keep the perch and bluegill all year, because the season for these two species is open all year. But the bass, would have to be released by December 31st, because bass season is only open until December 31st each year. You would not be able to keep any species past the closed season. Permits are only issued to places like Nature Centers, Schools etc, that actually teach children about the fish of Michigan. You can have an aquarium, but you can not have any species during the closed season in your possession."

I looked up the Michigan DNR site and they have a list of questions and answers that was really helpful. This was the closest I could find to what I was asking in this post. I posted my own question about selling these fish and they said I should have an answer in 10 days. I'll post it here for those that would be interested.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I think most of it doesn't only depend on what state/country you live in, but also what type of fish- i know that it became illegal to take Zebra plecs from the wild and sell them recently because they are an endangered species in a dwindling endangered habitat and although people have recently figured out how to breed them in captivity, their efforts aern't enough to keep up the demand so they are still pretty rare and expensive.
So basically its legal to sell Zebra plecs that have been bred in captivity but it is illegal to import them from the wild and sell them.

 

[Redbled]

Here is the answer I got from my Michigan DNR. I'm just guessing, but I'd bet that guy in Texas who caught and was attempting to sell a perch could get in a bit of trouble.


"The law states: You may not buy or sell fish or parts of fish, reptiles, amphibians, or crayfish taken under a sport fishing license. For you to raise fish and sell them, you would need to obtain an Aquaculture Facilities (Private Fish Farm) to raise fish and sell them. You can call the Department of Agriculture and they should be able to answer all your questions."