Why Are Fish Illegal In Some Countries And Not Others?

[Truck]

why are fish illegal in some countries and not others?

 

[Davo86]

why are fish illegal in some countries and not others?

In most cases it depends if the fish is able to survive in the wild in that particular climate,
Some species that have been released into the wild in foreign lands have gone on to multiply and cause havoc to local species

recent issue with illegal crayfish
and Giant Snakehead

 

[Truck]

like mollies in aus?

 

[Davo86]

like mollies in aus?

don't know about that,

from a quick google I've found that the following are illegal to own in oz

Grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idellus
Nile perch Lates niloticus
Parasitic catfish Family: Trichomycteridae
Pike cichlid Crenicichla lepidota
Piranha Serrasalmus spp.
Snakehead Channa spp.
Tiger catfish Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum
Tigerfish Hydrocynus goliath
Walking catfish Clarias batrachus
Weatherloach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus

 

[england]

As said it's the real threat of a specie's surviving and taking over wiping out there local natural habit........well known case is in the usa someone let a breeding pair go somewhere upstate new york, they breed breed and breed, wiping out the entire fish population.....

second video makes them seem like aliens but there not!!!

http/www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/200...or_home_fo.html

http/www.hemmy.net/2007/12/02/snakehead-invasion/

 

[OohFeeshy]

There's an enourmous list of fish that are illegal to import into Australia, including some strange cases where you're only allowed one sex- fine in theory, but in the majority of cases you can't actually tell the sex...

Australia has a warm climate and a fairly vunerable ecosystem- and introductions can easily start a population and from past experience, that's never a good thing. The same applies to other countries with the list adjusted accordingly- there is a big list of coldwater species that are illegal in the UK, for example.

 

[Nick16]

there is a catfish that you cant import now. its from Zaire. i forget its name now.

 

[Colin_T]

like mollies in aus?

Mollies aren't a problem in most parts of Australia. Platies and swordtails are and so are some of the South American cichlids. You can catch oscars and texas in Queensland, and we have some lovely looking variatus platies and green swordtails around Perth.
I would much rather have mollies in our rivers instead of Gambusia.

Why are fish illegal in some countries and not others?

stupid governments, grrr.

We have some really dumb laws in Australia regarding aquarium fishes. The latest one to appear is you are only allowed to keep fish that are native to the state you live in. Basically it will mean I am only allowed to keep fish that naturally occur in Western Australia. This gives me about 12 species of fish I can keep under this law. Some of which I won't be able to keep because they are only found in national parks and you aren't allowed to collect fish in national parks.
The Northern Territory has actually made this a law and the fishkeepers up there are only allowed to keep fish from the NT. All the other states in Australia are still thinking about introducing this law. If they do make this law then fishkeeping as we know it will change completely. And petshops, will go belly up all over the country.

Another stupid law we have here is you can bring in male Paradise fish but not females. And the fish must be over 3inches long. However, no one at AQIS (Australian Quarantine & Inspection Services) knows how to sex paradise fish.
We had a similar law a couple of years ago where we were allowed to bring in Glossolepis incisus, but only males. After 12 months or so they banned G. incisus again and we are no longer allowed to bring them in.
On the subject of rainbowfish, we are not allowed to bring rainbowfish into Australia even tho they naturally occur here and most species are already here. The government's reasoning for this is to stop the introduction of species that could get into our natural waterways and breed with, or outbreed our native species.
Now I can understand that to some degree, but if the fish are already here, and they aren't cheap to buy, why would anyone travel hundreds or even thousands of kilometres just to let them go. And if anyone was going to let them go, surely they would have done it by now.

Another stupid law is with keeping Koi carp. You can keep them in the southern half of WA but not in the northern half. The government is worried the fish will get out and survive in the wild. They will survive in the wild (and are already there) in the southern half of WA. Now they ban Koi carp from some parts of Australia but not common goldfish. Yet you can find goldfish in half the rivers around the country. Another issue with goldfish is any that get brought into Australia must be accompanied with a certificate from a vet stating the fish are free of goldfish ulcer disease (GUD). However, Australia's largest goldfish farm has GUD in its ponds and supplies thousands of diseased fish to every shop in the country.

Plecostomus catfish are another one. You can import two big species, common pleco and gibbiceps, but you can't bring in any small species. The people making the laws are concerned the smaller species will cause problems. I would think an 18inch pleco would do more damage than a 3inch peckoltia.

A final one is to do with marine cleaner shrimp. We aren't allowed to bring marine cleaner shrimp into the country even tho they naturally occur around the northern half of the coast. Local collectors get them from our waters and our waters are often filled with larvae swept in by the tropical currents from Indonesia. Yet they aren't allowed in from Indonesia even tho they are the same thing and potentially form the same parents.

 

[Mikaila31]

because the goverments say so.

similarly i live in wisconsin, but only about two miles away from the minnesota boarder. A plant (Hygrophillia polysperma) is legal in wisconsin, but prohibited in minnesota. Even though I bought it is Minnesota.

 

[dcarmor927]

because the goverments say so.

similarly i live in wisconsin, but only about two miles away from the minnesota boarder. A plant (Hygrophillia polysperma) is legal in wisconsin, but prohibited in minnesota. Even though I bought it is Minnesota.

Yea in the States, its all up to the states government
In California I know piranhas are illegal, so are ferrets lol

 

[mike os]

This works on several levels

1. to prevent the import of potentially dangerous animals ( usually to humans eg poisonous fish like lionfish)
2. to prevent the introduction of pathogens to existing or local species (this can apply to fish that could not naturally survive the local environment)
3. to prevent the local environment from being overrun or contaminated with non native species that usually out compete, eat or introduce new diseases to local species, usually to there detriment. (usually species that can survive in the local environment)



Although it can sometimes seem draconian, stupid and counter productive, I think we have a responsibility to recognise the need for such measures and work within them. Some of the examples already given indicate how serious a problem it can become when an alien species moves in and takes over, and the issue is not whether they already exist or what we would do...and I would hope no one on here is stupid enough to release non-native species.... but what some have already done, the problems they have already caused and limiting any future problems as far as reasonably possible.

 

[Inchworm]

It makes sense to restrict importation of species that could harm an environment. But sometimes bureaucracies go awry as the posts on the bottom of this thread show.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;hl=new+jersey

 

[Colin_T]

Although I agree with you mike os, many of the feral species in Australia were put there by the government. Gambusia for example, were spread all over the country by the gov in an attempt to control mozzies. And in reality they don't do a damn thing except take out the native fishes. This continued up until a few years ago when they suddenly decided to make them noxious. Now no-one touches them and they are left to breed uncontrollably.

 

[OldMan47]

There are two types of fish prohibited in the tanks they regulate. The first type is the ones that are considered to be a threat to the local fish population, because they can displace something native. The second type are the ones that present a threat to the native species of fish through competition with the natives or similar issues. Both of these groupings are , of course, subject to the whims of local government bodies and their perceptions. There is no universally accepted list of fish that should be banned because of its rarity or its threatened status. In my case, I maintain a group of livebearers that are thought to be extinct in the wild. So far there are no restrictions about keeping these fish, but when the time comes, I am ready to ignore the legal restrictions in favor of keeping the species around and viable. Meanwhile there are plenty of endangered species that I will observe the restrictions and not try to maintain them in my tanks.