Legality of Wels cats?

[SimonL]

Perhaps this should be posted in the Coldwater forum?

What is the legality of Silurus glanis in North America? I've never seen them for sale or even on a dealers list...I presume this is because of the risk of introduction into the wild?

 

[stotty]

I take it its the same as the U.K It is illegal to import this catfish into the U.K now even though we have them in quite a few lakes here.It is difficult to gain a licence to breed them as they are a non-indigenous fish species; the NRA and MAFF are concerned about fish getting into water courses. They think a wels would be detrimental to the fish stocks in rivers if they got into them. But they seem to be doing fine in Spain.

 

[Mystix212]

I'd hate to think what could happen if they were on the dealers lists. We dont need another 6ft+ fish escaping into the rivers and lakes of this planet.

 

[SimonL]

We dont need another 6ft+ fish escaping into the rivers and lakes of this planet.

I dunno about that...my cottage lake needs a bit of excitment (jking)