USAQUA, and its impact on the US hobby?

[Fallen_Leaves16]

Saw on Facebook that Art had finally managed to put together an organisation to represent fish-keeping hobbyists in the US under the name of USAQUA.
I think this is the first large-scale effort for the public to unify awareness and response to legal proceedings impacting the aquarium trade, from what I can recall.
It seems Art and the others running the organisation are working closely with USARK, an organisation that defends the rights of reptile/amphibian keepers in the US and has proven to have a good track-record of supporting the hobby. Right now the entire USAQUA system seems to be nearly identical to that of USARK, down to the website layout.
I am quite curious as to whether this will have long-term success. Art Parola has dedicated a fair chunk of his life to studying legal matters relating to aquaculture and fish trade, and has enough knowledge in the matter to fully understand most goings-ons that would affect the domestic aquarium industry/hobby... he also seems to have rallied a good bit of support from a few other organisations before making an official launch of USAQUA.
Their first move seems to be attempting to sue USFWS in an effort to legalise controlled import and trade of Asian arowanas; something that hasn't been accomplished in several decades.
Curious to know what others here would think of it all. I personally remain tentatively optimistic but have nowhere near enough info to form a solid basis of thought.
Here are two AMAZONAS links that go into more detail, and a video as well.
https://www.amazonasmagazine.com/20...the-hill-usaqua-is-a-new-voice-for-aquarists/

https://www.amazonasmagazine.com/20...ian-arowana-from-cites-registered-facilities/

 

[Sassafras]

I looked, I liked and I became a member!

 

[skjl47]

Hello; Back several decades ago there were cries to allow restricted species to be imported. I have not yet looked at the links so correct me if I have the wrong idea. The problem, as predicted back in the day, was too many exotic species were released into the wild. Some have become established populations.

Back in the 50's 7 60's had a close friend who kept tanks. He was knowledgeable. He went off to war and then working life. A few years ago he moved back into the area. He set up a tank and started back in the hobby. A couple years later I discovered his tank was shut down. He gave it away. I asked what he did with the fish. He had let them go into a local creek.

We hobbyist have a poor track record. The only sure way to avoid some new bad outcome is to ban most exotic species. Other ways are too personally onerous to support. Do we want some agent able to drop into our homes to check about some risky exotic species? I do not. Years ago, I started keeping only species tank bread in the USA.

 

[FLA]

Thanks for the input. That has been an issue in the past and is a good reminder that we need to be educating our fellow aquarists to keep their pets in their enclosures. This is a good resource if you need help https://petadvocacy.org/habitattitude. However, that is not the story here. This is about the ESA and how it protects nonnative species. Most of the world including Canada recognizes that farmed arowanas pose no threat to the wild population. In this case aquacultured arowanas are the superior and desired fish by most hobbyist. This is due to the intensive selection and line breeding done by hardworking breeders for decades. As such there are few if any wild Asian arowanas in the trade.

 

[FLA]

Unfortunately, the ESA rarely makes such distinctions and simply bans the importation and interstate commerce of the species. As I understand research apes are an example of an exemption to this rule. The reality is we have a framework to protect endangered species in their home ranges. That is CITES. CITES restricts international trade in endangered species and home countries help set the rules for trading it from their sources. ESA should be used to protect US native species and their associated habitat, and it should be understood that a farmer in Texas breeding arowanas from captive stock and selling them to a customer in Michigan has had zero impact on those wild stocks.

Lots of fish are not in good shape in the wild that are in the aquarium hobby. Red tailed black sharks are a great example. They are endangered at home but sold by the hundreds of thousands in the US from farms in Florida. If that fish were to get ESA listed those farms would just stop breeding the fish and it would disappear.

S skjl47 You said years ago you started keeping only species tank bred in the USA. Does that mean only US natives or nonnatives that are produced stateside?

Sorry for making this two posts. It wouldn't accept it in full.

 

[skjl47]

You said years ago you started keeping only species tank bred in the USA. Does that mean only US natives or nonnatives that are produced stateside?

Hello; I keep mostly tropical species. Native species generally do not tolerate the warmer tank temperatures during the summer in northern TN. I guess the idea is to keep species which can be bred in captivity. A catch 22 of sorts since back in the past no one could have cracked to code for inducing successful spawns without wild caught specimens.
i have learned to live with my hypocrisy for the most part. I used up a lot of fish from the time I was eleven years old to the point of being able to keep healthy tanks. people would stop by, see my tanks and want one. I encouraged them. Nearly all turned out to be disasters. I still keep decent tanks and people tell me they want one. Now for years i discourage them. I play up the difficulties, cost and potential damage to a home.

I do get the advantage to having living examples of endangered species in captivity. A last-ditch breeding stock when wild stocks are gone. Would need several such to try to have a decent gene pool. A worthwhile goal but not so much for the typical home aquarist.

My apologies to our fellow members who do not view human overpopulation as a problem as I do. too many people generate too much personal and industrial waste. Too much habitat loss.

nonnatives that are produced stateside?

Hello; the species can be spawned anywhere as long as in captivity.

 

[FLA]

Thanks for the clarity on that. This affects you. Currently any species that gets ESA listed can't be imported or taken across state lines for commercial purposes. There isn't an exemption for farm raised vs wild caught. That would mean if a fish you want to keep gets listed it would have to be bred in Tennessee for you to legally purchase it.

As for the sustainability of wild caught vs farm raised fish, I think that is an important conversation. Other parts of the aquarium hobby are having that now. I don't want to get into that on this thread because I think the ESA conversation deserves a clean thread.

As for the human population conversation that probably deserves its own thread in the lounge.

 

[skjl47]

This affects you. Currently any species that gets ESA listed can't be imported or taken across state lines for commercial purposes. There isn't an exemption for farm raised vs wild caught. That would mean if a fish you want to keep gets listed it would have to be bred in Tennessee for you to legally purchase it.

Hello; It becomes a standoff between the no restrictions of any kind crowd and the no more exotic species becoming established in the wild crowd. When i was a young "I know better" sort I fancied the idea of having a snakehead. I did keep Oscars, Jack Dempsie's and other aggressive cichlids. I never released any into local waters. Trouble being someone has.

A related problem are the pythons now plaguing Florida. I get the accepted source was a commercial outfit damaged during a big storm. Outcome the same none the less. An aggressive nonnative species with few or no native predators to keep them in check.

There are restrictions on moving firewood from county to another county for similar reasons.

A few years ago my nearest lake ( Norris Lake) was found to have the invasive ZEBRA MUSSEL. I was going fishing one fall and watched a man pull a pontoon boat out. The hull was covered with those mussels after sitting in the water for some time. I suspect it could have been what we locals call the Ohio Navy. My brother has a camper and boat at the Powell Valley Marina. A substantial portion of the campers & boats are from Ohio. A guess is they may be in the waters of an infected Great Lake and then come down to TN for the summer.

I am not typical among tropical fish hobbyist anymore. I can give up having some species if it helps the local species. I need to spray some invasive poison hemlock again when I can catch a dry day with no wind. I discovered some along the fence line near my house last spring. The growth was killed out last summer but is starting to come back this spring. I sprayed the patches I could find back in Jan/Feb but more is starting to emerge.

But i do get your point. We will not be able to have all species we might fancy just because we want what we want. Back in the late 1960's I had to write an undergrad thesis for my Biology degree. I picked an invasive plant plaguing Florida waters at the time, the water hyacinth. I have not check the last few years but suspect it may still be a problem. Lucky it is not toxic.

 

[Sassafras]

I have never found the European Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) in my area, but we do have the native Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata), which is quite common and also toxic. It is in the same family as Conium (Apiaceae), which accounts for a number of aggressive non-native plants. Daucus carota or Quenn Anne's Lace, another invader from Europe, is one of the worst that I despise, dominating roadside right-of-ways. Also in Apiaceae are Angelica archangelica (Celery) from Russia and Scandinavian countries, Apium graveolens English Celery native to Europe again, Pignut (Conopodium majus) from Western Europe and Pastinaca sativa, the parsnip, are other noxious weeds from Europe that are, at least, edible. Sium latifolium, Greater Water-Parsnip, invasive in North America, is widespread in Europe and into Siberia, It ruins the flavor of milk when consumed by dairy cows. Several of the above are easily confused with Poison Hemlock.

My property is a nature preserve protected under the state's Natural Heritage Program. I have an ongoing war with invasive plants, constantly pulling up Japanese Honeysuckle, Chinese Privet, Mimosa tree seedlings, Japanese Grass, etc. etc. to give the native species their best chance to thrive. Deer are probably my worst enemy - way overpopulated due to no large predators and being favored in land management as game animals. Deer love to munch some of the most threatened native plant species, they love anything in the Lily family. I beg people to come hunt deer on my place and they are always surprised, saying, "but isn't your place a nature preserve?" Sadly, nature often isn't as natural as one would hope.

Oops! I got headed down a rabbit trail, sorry. Enough on this and back to USAQUA.

 

[FLA]

None of the ESA issues are about invasion potential. That is why we have the injurious wildlife list.

ESA is about protecting species in their native range farmed arowanas pose no threat to the wild population but are illegal.