More plants illegal in the EU

[Essjay]

The EU has added to the list of plants that are now illegal to trade. And as the link explains, although we leave the EU in a couple of days, the UK will still ban them.

Sell these aquatic plants in the UK and face going to jail - Fishkeeping News

Ponds, plant cascades and planted tanks will never look the same again, now the Invasive Alien Species Order 2019 is

fishkeepingnews.com

The problem will be identifying 'illegal' plants and 'legal' plants in the same genus eg Elodea crispa, Lagarosiphon major, is illegal while Elodea densa, Egeria densa, is legal.
Having illegal plants in our tanks/ponds won't be policed, but shop will have to stop selling them.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Why is it illegal though?

 

[Essjay]

Imported plants and animals are usually banned when they can survive in the wild and cause problems for the region's natural wildlife. The EU banned apple snail imports because they were found living in a river in Spain. Non-indiginous plants can take over waterways and outcompete the native plants.

If hobbyists were all careful, responsible people our fish, plants, snails etc would stay in our tanks and ponds. But many people are not. They don't care if they throw plants into the nearest river.
I come from a town where glass making was the major industry, though it has declined substantially in recent years. A canal ran alongside one of the glass making factories, and the water used for cooling was sprayed into this canal - by the time it had been through the glass factory it was very hot water. A pet shop in the town closed down, and what did they do with their tropical fish? Put them in the canal where they thrived in the warm water. In this instance no damage was done to the local wildlife because the water was too warm for those creatures that live in our colder climate. But it is an example of someone not stopping to think about the harm they could do.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Imported plants and animals are usually banned when they can survive in the wild and cause problems for the region's natural wildlife. The EU banned apple snail imports because they were found living in a river in Spain. Non-indiginous plants can take over waterways and outcompete the native plants.

If hobbyists were all careful, responsible people our fish, plants, snails etc would stay in our tanks and ponds. But many people are not. They don't care if they throw plants into the nearest river.
I come from a town where glass making was the major industry, though it has declined substantially in recent years. A canal ran alongside one of the glass making factories, and the water used for cooling was sprayed into this canal - by the time it had been through the glass factory it was very hot water. A pet shop in the town closed down, and what did they do with their tropical fish? Put them in the canal where they thrived in the warm water. In this instance no damage was done to the local wildlife because the water was too warm for those creatures that live in our colder climate. But it is an example of someone not stopping to think about the harm they could do.

Sad.... agree with you here, I live next to the neighbor that throw every thing in the river now what happen? all fish in that river died.

 

[Stan510]

None of those are a great loss. If you have seen one Elodea,you've seen em all. California had banned those years ago. Apple Snails were breeding in some spots in southern california and possibly the southern central valley. Before then,I saw some for sale and they were humongous. Like Gary on Spongebob..grandkids...