keeping illegal fish

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Heat pollution from factories near the great lakes are THEORIZED to be warming the waters enough for piranha and various other warm water fish to survive. It's a theory, and yes piranha have been caught but there is no proof that the fish would have survived through the winter or even for more than a few hours. It is HIGHLY unlikely that any warm water fish could survive in Minnesota or Ontario.
 
Australia and africa and asia amoung other places have had pet dogs and cats become invasive and wild and feral. It has happened. We have a huge industry around control of these animals with next to no penalty to owners. Fish we have no such industry just stupid legislation. If only we could approach all animal husbandry the same. Punish the bad pet owner. Thats the only law that need exist.
 
In Australia the government will pay you for killing dingos. A sad but effective measure.
 
I choose not to keep illegal fish. I have many freinds that keep illegal fish and respect their choices.

Funny thing is I have a few illegal plants (no, not drugs) in my planted tanks.

In my state, if you have illegal fish, chances are you are smarter then the average dope and wont go dumping something so expensive into the local ponds, etc. Illegal fish are expensive and not easy to come by here and if you are looking for something specific, you have probably done your homework.
 
nicholasdances;5043619; said:
even if the boxes were checked do these workers have the proper knowledge to even know what species of fish are illegal?
I would think that illegal fish are low on the todem poll of illegal things they are looking for

all major airport hubs have F&G people that work there. FedEx and UPS have F&G on call if needed. i know at LAX that they can have F&G on site in under 5 minutes if needed.
 
What some of you guys don't realize by saying it is stupid that a Piranha or Snakehead can't survive in MN, KY, CT etc., is they don't stay in those states permanently. In other words, if they allowed those fish to be kept in those states it makes it that much easier for them to be distributed to areas where they CAN survive. Some of these fish are already causing problems in some areas.

So it is a good idea they are illegal all together. They spend millions of dollars trying to fight these invasive fish, not to mention that it is all in effort to preserve the native fish/habitats. If you can't appreciate that then you are selfish, same goes for wanting endangered fish. Like I said before, they are illegal for a reason. You are given enough privileges to keep fish, find something else to satisfy you.
 
My only point in this is that every single animal/pet could become a invasive species if allowed. It all comes down to good animal stewardship. Sadly politicians don't see all animals as created equal.
 
Younglin;5043655; said:
In Australia the government will pay you for killing dingos. A sad but effective measure.
Yes it is sad to kill dingos, especially there are not lots of purebred dingos in the wild.
 
My only point in this is that every single animal/pet could become a invasive species if allowed. It all comes down to good animal stewardship. Sadly politicians don't see all animals as created equal.

Unfortunately the dog has been a domesticated part of human culture for 15,000 years, it's not going anywhere. It's hard to compare it to a snakehead that's been a pet in North America for a couple decades.
 
kamikaziechameleon;5043187; said:
As far as keeping native fish illegally I think that is probably one of the largest pieces of BS I've heard of. I know businesses that stock their tanks with wild caught fish without permit. I also formerly kept native jeuvies and fry for fun. With an american fishing industry/sport being what it is you really can't fault the minority of people who catch and keep natives compared to fishers out of season or in season for that matter.


If they did not have laws about native fish, everyone would take anything and everything they wanted.
 
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