Help Stop legal actions against future importations relating to the Lacey Act

[The Masked Shadow]

The only wild population of fish is people in Florida releasing fish. I am not criticizing Florida, but they have lax laws that allow many invasive fish be kept. It is also the only place where cichlids or others can survive.

Here in California we have little runoffs which people may dump platys in. They are not invasive in any way. They can survive the chilly winters in San Diego. San Diego monitors what is put in their lakes. It is highly unlikely any tropical fish would survive in lakes, as there are bass and many predators to eat it, and it gets cold in winter.


The only thing that has a stable population is parrots. In Florida there are stable populations of 17 different parrots, plus more of other escaped birds that include exotic pheasants, finches, doves, and water fowl. There is no way of preventing that now, as they have stable populations. In Southern California we have a few small populations of parrrots and parakeets, and a small population of domestic ducks. They are not invasive in any way. I don’t think many people release their fish into the wild, and if they did, it would be highly unlikely it would survive.

 

[Krismo962]

documentary on one of the south american villages that maintains and protects a population of neon tetras for the aquarium trade.

If these people didn't catch these fish for the trade,they would die off anyway....circle of life.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; Guess i could throw in the carp making news the last few years in northern waters. Forget the name just this minute. Asian carp maybe? Anyway the one that jumps clear of the water around moving boats. A fairly large fish and not in Florida is one point.
That many exotic species do not survive to reproduce does not mean the ones that do are not a massive problem. Back in the 1960's I did a term paper on water hyacinths, an invasive plant which is still a big problem. I can find and link a list of invasive species. Not looked for a few years but the list was long last time I did look. Includes plants and animals. Not all released by hobbyist, but some.
This is likely to devolve much like the threads about how cruel the hobby is with one difference. In terms of cruelty, we each make a deal with ourselves we can rationalize and live with. Mine revolves around the fact once fish are in my care they get good care and do well. Such does not fix all the issues throughout the supply chain in the hobby. My willingness to spend money on fish and supplies does contribute to the ongoing practicies. Mush like the way back a few decades ago the wearing of animal furs was associated with the killing of some endangered animals or even the way the commercial profit from ivory and rhino horn leads to poaching.

The difference I refer to above is cruelty in the hobby pretty much stays inside the hobby. The collection from wild populations or the release of exotic animals, plants, parasite and potential pathogens affects the environment outside the hobby.

I stopped encouraging new aquarium keepers decades ago. Seen too many lousy setups and know too many horror stories over the decades. Even those with best intentions have a learning curve issue. The hobby issues reminds me of how i feel about automobiles. A two-sided dilemma for me. I grew up liking cars. Became a good shade tree mechanic and like having well handling vehicles. Driving is among the more fun things I have done. I came to the decision to have as small an environmental impact as i grew older. So now I want a Mustang GT as part of my bucket list but struggle with it because I know of the impact is beyond basic transportation. I like to mechanic on and drive vehicles and I still keep fish in small glass tanks. I know what each involves the last decades. I do miss the brief time from 1963 to the early 1970's before I learned about the environmental aspects of two my favorite activities.

So, most of my adult life i have compromised between what is a better environmental path and things i like to do. I drive a small car which uses less fuel while i dream of a Pony car. I keep only tank raised fish anymore and push the cruelty of the rest of the hobby to the back of my mind. I do not however allow my wishes and desires to cloud my thinking to the point i can pretend the issues do not count. If i do ever get a Mustang GT I will have to live with the guilt associated of driving a car with too much HP. Hope i made my point about the hobby. No matter how well i do personally with care of fish and never releasing any into the wild, I am part of a hobby where fish suffer, and some do get released into the wild.

 

[WOLF2013]

Let the misinformation flow.
I have not heard anything about tropical fish being illegal in January 2023.
You will still be able to keep fish just certain species that can pose danger like stingrays, venomus fish may be harder to obtain.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Let the misinformation flow.
I have not heard anything about tropical fish being illegal in January 2023.
You will still be able to keep fish just certain species that can pose danger like stingrays, venomus fish may be harder to obtain.

Fairly sure they are banning corydoras because of the venom in their spines ?

 

[WOLF2013]

Fairly sure they are banning corydoras because of the venom in their spines ?

I highly doubt it gets passed. I'm 28 years old and I've been in the hobby my whole life and I have seen bills like this many times and nothing ever happens.

 

[jjohnwm]

I highly doubt it gets passed. I'm 28 years old and I've been in the hobby my whole life and I have seen bills like this many times and nothing ever happens.

Lol, I'm closing in on my 65th birthday and have also been keeping fish "my whole life" .

Proposed legislation like this is becoming much more common with each passing year. I'll agree that very little has actually been passed and so not much has changed...although I wistfully recall being able to walk into an LFS and seeing many fish species commonly available that are verboten for many keepers today.

Ask the older hobbyists in the U.S., who remember keeping Asian Aros, snakeheads, etc. if nothing happened. Ask the MFK member (I will not divulge his identity, as I don't know if he would appreciate it) who had a large Wels catfish removed from his home by state wildlife people if nothing happened. Believe me, this stuff happens.

Those bills don't all need to pass in order to mess you up; all it takes is one. And each time a watered-down version does indeed pass, it makes it that much easier for the next, stricter one to succeed. Since the frequency with which they appear is definitely increasing, the odds are that eventually you are going to get stung.

And, there is virtually no chance of regaining ground once it is lost. The people who think it's worth writing their congressman or other representative and making a case for "un-banning" arowanas or other unobtainia are delusional. With all the actual serious problems facing the world today, de-listing your favourite tropical fish isn't on anybody's radar.

It's like having a big beautiful tree next to a house. It doesn't matter how many successive owners that house has, who all protect and nurture the tree. When eventually some nutcase buys the house and cuts the tree down...it is gone forever.

 

[WOLF2013]

Lol, I'm closing in on my 65th birthday and have also been keeping fish "my whole life" .

Proposed legislation like this is becoming much more common with each passing year. I'll agree that very little has actually been passed and so not much has changed...although I wistfully recall being able to walk into an LFS and seeing many fish species commonly available that are verboten for many keepers today.

Ask the older hobbyists in the U.S., who remember keeping Asian Aros, snakeheads, etc. if nothing happened. Ask the MFK member (I will not divulge his identity, as I don't know if he would appreciate it) who had a large Wels catfish removed from his home by state wildlife people if nothing happened. Believe me, this stuff happens.

Those bills don't all need to pass in order to mess you up; all it takes is one. And each time a watered-down version does indeed pass, it makes it that much easier for the next, stricter one to succeed. Since the frequency with which they appear is definitely increasing, the odds are that eventually you are going to get stung.

And, there is virtually no chance of regaining ground once it is lost. The people who think it's worth writing their congressman on other representative and making a case for "un-banning" arowanas or other unobtainia are delusional. With all the actual serious problems facing the world today, de-listing you favourite tropical fish isn't on anybody's radar.

It's like having a big beautiful tree next to a house. It doesn't matter how many successive owners that house has, who all protect and nurture the tree. When eventually some nutcase buys the house and cuts the tree down...it is gone forever.

That is a great point. I never knew that at one point in time Asian arowans could be kept in the USA. I wonder why they became illegal.
Snakeheads I do remember. My dad was crazy for them.
They got banned when I was real young atleast 6 or 7 years old.

 

[DrownedFishonFire]

That is a great point. I never knew that at one point in time Asian arowans could be kept in the USA. I wonder why they became illegal.
Snakeheads I do remember. My dad was crazy for them.
They got banned when I was real young atleast 6 or 7 years old.

for the asian aros its a treaty US signed with over 180 countries (dont remember exact #) i remember it being in 1975 Endangered Species Act treaty with those nations.

lacey act (where snakehead is banned) is the NUMBER UNO act we all as US fishkeepers should always memorize its the first act ever in the US protecting our wildlife. From 1900! ?it should be on our minds as much as possible when dealing with new species we do not know about and doing our due diligence for ethical reasons. Check the list before setting your heart on whatever fish you got your sights on.

As soon the snakehead was put on the Lacey list and added to the list of being a potential terrible addition to our environment it was already too late with northern snakeheads having established populations out in the east coast. ?I cant wait to make a trip out east to target them and see how they are fun to catch like the bowfins are. Clueless people are mistaking and killing bowfins thinking they are snakeheads out there SMH Constant disagreement on how to handle them between fishing folks. Alot do find snakehead meat delicious.

 

[MultipleTankSyndrome]

Just finished learning about this. If it comes to pass, the US fishkeeping industry will take one hell of a nosedive, that's for sure.