Ontario (Canada) regulates mosquitofish and Salvinia

[davros]

Plenty in tanks today so it may become interesting

'Rodent rat,' parasite-spreading fish, and more join Ont. invasive species list - The Weather Network

Not all of the new additions to the list are present in Ontario.

www.theweathernetwork.com

 

[GaryE]

I could see Gambusia affinis doing damage locally if they got out early in Spring and had time to feed over a summer, much the way southern turtle releases have harmed native ones. They die in the winter but have a long summer to rampage. They are grey nippy fish - there are lots of nice Gambusia, but IMHO, affinis don't make that group. Not many people keep them. There aren't a lot of livebearer specialists in Ontario - maybe a few dozen at most.

 

[emeraldking]

Just checked out the link. I can imagine why they regulate mosquito fish in this case.

 

[GaryE]

This means every sharp mind is going to be bugging wholesalers to bring them in. It will allow people with small tanks to be as shortsighted and destructive as the "get me a northern snakehead" gang.

Eventually, they'll grow up and give up.

 

[davros]

I can't get Salvinia to live in my tanks, dunno how they will survive in my frozen lake.

 

[Uberhoust]

In a previous life I used to do lake assessments for stocking trout. I have seen the damage some of the animals listed on the link have done. In particular red shiners, and milfoil can change an ecosystem of a lake, making it more of a monoculture with large mats of invasive plants, with only the invasive fish doing well because they live in that choked environment now. If a lake is part of a network of lakes and slower rivers there is nothing you can do. If the lake was somewhat isolated the only way to get rid of the invaders was to kill off all the fish in the lake and re-establish new populations with native fish. In the 80s we used rotenone for that task, I don't know if it is still used.

Responsible fish keepers should not release their fish into the environment, but in reality, many people will especially if the choice is between a release vs euthanization. Plants are even more insidious, because they can be released into the environment more easily, even with a simple water change if the waste water ends up in the natural environment.