PRE-BAN Asian Arowanas

[Eupterus]

I was reading about arowanas online and I read somewhere that the ban may be lifted.
Unfortunatly I'd have to do a long search to dig up the source and who knows if it's just some person making speculations sp?. Can hope...those asian arowanas sure are beautiful.

 

[wizzin]

in talking with the USFWS, they do have an interest in legalizing them, but they can't until the range countries create some sort of protection program for the wild fish. They also said they've been working on this in particular a lot recently, as Chaos can attest to that they've been over in SA recently talking to officials there about this. I wouldn't assume that means the ban will be lifted though.

The person I was talking to recommended we hobbyist's create an organization and lobby the SA governments to create some sort of protection plan for the fish. By working with breeders and the government, something "might" be accomplished. Leaving it up to the usfws by themselves will certainly take ages.

We need someone to startup some sort of group and start making contacts. We need people with a positive attitude and optimism. There are a lot of people that quickly say "they'll never be legal" or "there's no point in trying". That will certainly never get anything done!

 

[Eupterus]

Isn't a bright red arowana like having a specially bred guppy or betta?.
Just ban wild colored fish and you'd be all set.

 

[prophets]

Now that is a freaking shame to destroy the asian aro. You're right it should be donated to public aquariums around the US so everyone can get to see one and enjoy it.

I guess the thinking is that some one might try to "steal" it from the aquariums.

Now thats some positive news I guess, if they're trying to legalize it and put in some sort of protection plan.

SA? South America or Southeast Asia?

I would assume Asia, right?

I guess they really need to talk to the gov't officials there and the breeding farms to get something concrete going. But the sad note of it all is the revenue aspect that these countries are more concerned with.

Aside from some sort of protection plan, I'm sure there has to be some sort of financial motive in play too.

If ever "legalized" everyone involved will want their share of revenue, who gets what and how much. It's terrible how so many people that are not directly involved will try to capitalize on this if it ever happens. Personally the only ones that should get monetary gains are the breeders/farms themselves for doing all the hard work.

But like every part of the world, the gov'ts have to get their take for working so hard.

 

[Chaos32]

Isn't a bright red arowana like having a specially bred guppy or betta?.
Just ban wild colored fish and you'd be all set.

lol....unfortunately it's not as such.

 

[Chaos32]

in talking with the USFWS, they do have an interest in legalizing them, but they can't until the range countries create some sort of protection program for the wild fish. They also said they've been working on this in particular a lot recently, as Chaos can attest to that they've been over in SA recently talking to officials there about this. I wouldn't assume that means the ban will be lifted though.

The person I was talking to recommended we hobbyist's create an organization and lobby the SA governments to create some sort of protection plan for the fish. By working with breeders and the government, something "might" be accomplished. Leaving it up to the usfws by themselves will certainly take ages.

We need someone to startup some sort of group and start making contacts. We need people with a positive attitude and optimism. There are a lot of people that quickly say "they'll never be legal" or "there's no point in trying". That will certainly never get anything done!

I admire your persistence. Perhaps your efforts will pay off some day. Regardless, you need funding for something like this. Emails alone are not going to cut it. Also if this is indeed a hobbyist effort, those individuals need to take time off their lives to get this going. Also there needs to be an understanding of the culture, mentality etc. here in SEA. Barge in guns blazing or try to impose what is norm in the western world might just backfire in your faces. Believe me, the farmers have been eyeing the US market for a very long time now & are just itching to get their feet wet.

If a true working group can be established, contact with parties here can be arranged.

 

[Chaos32]

Now that is a freaking shame to destroy the asian aro. You're right it should be donated to public aquariums around the US so everyone can get to see one and enjoy it.

I guess the thinking is that some one might try to "steal" it from the aquariums.

Now thats some positive news I guess, if they're trying to legalize it and put in some sort of protection plan.

SA? South America or Southeast Asia?

I would assume Asia, right?

I guess they really need to talk to the gov't officials there and the breeding farms to get something concrete going. But the sad note of it all is the revenue aspect that these countries are more concerned with.

Aside from some sort of protection plan, I'm sure there has to be some sort of financial motive in play too.

If ever "legalized" everyone involved will want their share of revenue, who gets what and how much. It's terrible how so many people that are not directly involved will try to capitalize on this if it ever happens. Personally the only ones that should get monetary gains are the breeders/farms themselves for doing all the hard work.

But like every part of the world, the gov'ts have to get their take for working so hard.

Certainly all relevant parties would want to benefit from this being legalize, be it government level or otherwise. One cannot expect the government to do this just for the sake for hobbyist.

 

[wizzin]

I admire your persistence. Perhaps your efforts will pay off some day. Regardless, you need funding for something like this. Emails alone are not going to cut it. Also if this is indeed a hobbyist effort, those individuals need to take time off their lives to get this going. Also there needs to be an understanding of the culture, mentality etc. here in SEA. Barge in guns blazing or try to impose what is norm in the western world might just backfire in your faces. Believe me, the farmers have been eyeing the US market for a very long time now & are just itching to get their feet wet.

If a true working group can be established, contact with parties here can be arranged.

EXACTLY Chaos! We need to go about this carefully and thoughtfully so that everyone benefits. That's the thing, right now, it's a bunch of individuals just throwing around ideas and trying to communicate with people and get things changed, which will never happen. There needs to be a clear and concise plan of attack so to speak. The farms would obviously benefit, the US hobbiest's will obviously benefit, the wild fish "should" benefit, and if the government taxed the exports, they would benefit. It's balancing all the numbers and means for the thing to work that's the job.

You're right about the money too. There needs to be funding to schedule meetings etc. The biggest obsticle though, is the US gov. They need to be convinced that there is a conservation plan in place. I'm more than willing to do whatever I can.

I'm persistant because it's about more than being able to keep a fish. There are laws here that affect things that the laws weren't intended to affect. When an international body creates a program that 98% of the world adopts and the US opts out, there is something wrong. CITES should have jurisdiction over the arowana, since it's the body governing trade in endangered species. The ESA was originally written to protect native wildlife to the US. When the US signed the CITES agreement, that should have been it. That should've covered the native NA species under the ESA and then international species would have been covered under CITES. Then in 94, section 9 was ammended to prohibit: harass,
harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect; or to attempt any of these to any species listed under the ESA. Since the ESA and CITES lists were combined in 73 so that any species on the CITES list were also automatically included in the ESA list, the US now had local jurisdiction over international species. OOPS.

So essentially, Section 9 of the ESA needs ammended to say something like "except where CITES has provided means for trade via a managed system. What are the chances of this? Not good, but not impossible. It would take a lot of people and time.