Peacock Bass Illegal in Florida
- Thread starter spadoc79
- Start date
Definitely legal in Florida , even though they are an introduced species there is still a bag limit of catching them out of Florida waters, that's how much the government loves them.
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That statement is kinda hazy. Here's how the FL laws work:
Cichla are not illegal aquarium exotic species in Florida. They must be obtained from either pet sources or retained from the wild via approved equipment allowed with a valid collector's permit. Retailer's can sell Cichla obtained from wholesale pet industry sources.
Retaining gamefish species alive for placement in aquariums is illegal. Florida gamefish laws are designed around using legally tackle-caught fish, caught while in possession of a valid fishing license, to be used for consumption or other non-live means (eg: taxidermy, bait, etc.). Hence, wild Cichla caught while sport-fishing are illegal aquarium fish and can not be kept in aquaria or sold in the pet industry.
I have yet to get a straight answer about the legality of a lfs buying back fry from captive aquarium customer breeders.
Cichla are not illegal aquarium exotic species in Florida. They must be obtained from either pet sources or retained from the wild via approved equipment allowed with a valid collector's permit. Retailer's can sell Cichla obtained from wholesale pet industry sources.
Retaining gamefish species alive for placement in aquariums is illegal. Florida gamefish laws are designed around using legally tackle-caught fish, caught while in possession of a valid fishing license, to be used for consumption or other non-live means (eg: taxidermy, bait, etc.). Hence, wild Cichla caught while sport-fishing are illegal aquarium fish and can not be kept in aquaria or sold in the pet industry.
I have yet to get a straight answer about the legality of a lfs buying back fry from captive aquarium customer breeders.
this is partially true.. you can only keep florida caught cichla live possession if you have and exotic fish collection permit.. otherwise they must be dead if they are in your possession.. they are considered a gamefish in florida but, since they are not native you cannot posses alive.. All other gamefish in florida (natives)are based on possession and size limits dead or alive!! you can do what you want with them as long as they are legal size.. I know this from personal run ins with fish and game while having live largemouth in my cooler to take back to my private pond.. as the game officer told me as long as they are leagal size you can do what you want with them.. Now all that being said the law is really hard to enforce when it comes to having florida cichla in your possession cause how many game officers can tell the species apart? or follow you back to your house so you can show a receipt or proof of purchase...
give you an example.. last trip to miami i had 2 Pbass of legal size in a cooler with aerator and wildlife officer showed up. check our license and said your gonna fillet those later right? said yes sir! and he was on his way..
sorry but this is false!! most of florida's rivers are spring fed and run temps of atleast 72deg. year round.. if the cichla were to be transported and released into these rivers even in the nothern part of the state they would do just fine..
Re-read my statement again more carefully....it's proven that peacock bass cannot spread up north due to the cold temperatures. Otherwise we would find them up north if they were able to spreading. So my statement is true, not false.
