ewurm;893993; said:
Fortunate in our eyes, but also remember that every amazing fish you catch there was the result of dumping fish. Florida is now a zoo. Would I love to catch those at the local pier? YES. But not at the expense of the local ecosystem.
SOUTH FL is a zoo. not just in the canals...look around and youll see macaws flying around, and monkeys loose and flourishing in certain neighborhoods. Local fish are fine....we have more than enough space for everyone ....Do I condone dumping...no. DO I enjoy fishing for peacock bass, oscars, Jags, Uro's, Midas, Clown Knife, Jewel cichlids, pacu, koi, TSN, Severums, Acara, snakeheads, common plecos, BN pleco's, adonis Pleco's and other misc species???? VERY MUCH SO!
Look, I understand the whole disrupt our ecosystem argument...but you have to live here to understand. RIght now the big deal are Snakeheads...but let me tell you...we have so much space and water that youll find everything including the natives flourishing next to each other... Is it wierd to see P. Bass with fry a few feet away from a snakehead with fry, a few feet away from a crappie or Large mouth or FL Gar..?? Maybe..but they seem to have gotten the hang of it...
Do I think its okay for people to dump their fish?? no! thats why I cant keep Rays, Piranha and black Aro's....So my stance on the introduced species isnt because of ecosystem problems...but because its gotten to where we all pay the price for the few irresponsible fish keepers....where in the rest of the country you might eliminate a few species in a lake...we have more canals interconnecting than roads....the water area here is inmense...enough space for all to live in their own "territories".