Selling Natives in PA

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divemaster99

divemaster99

Dovii
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2014
4,795
385
107
Pittsburgh, PA
So as far as I kno these are basic pa regulations

  • No selling any fish present in PA waters, may buy from out of state or hatcheries
  • No selling, buying, or possessing any state threatened or endangered fish
  • May sell, buy, and posses any native fish not found in PA waters (ex. Southeastern Natives)

Yet every fish store I walk into has Channel Catfish (PA native) for sale, so is there certain pa natives I would be allowed to breed and sell? I know channels are hard to breed but I could aquaculture them along with any other pa natives that are legal to sell.
 
As a hobbyist? No, you cannot breed and sell any native PA fish. You would need to open a business and get the appropriate licenses.

Not everyone complies with the regulations, I would like to think most of the time it is unintentional, but no doubt there are a few that take a chance.

I used to see channels and bullheads at the independant LFS years ago. But most have all bee driven out of business here by Petco and Petsmart, and I have never seen a local cat at either of the big chains. It's not uncommon to see live bass for sale at the asian supermarkets in Philly, probably illegally taken as well.
 
divemaster99 said:
So I could sell things like minnows and darters? Can an average person get one if those licenses easily?
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Almost anything can actually be sold as bait, except stonecats. The licenses aren't hard to get, but its really hard to find info on them. If you go on the pa agricultural commissions page theres info on aquaponics. Its probably easier to just go into a bait shop and ask though.
 
Hasircoglu said:
Almost anything can actually be sold as bait, except stonecats. The licenses aren't hard to get, but its really hard to find info on them. If you go on the pa agricultural commissions page theres info on aquaponics. Its probably easier to just go into a bait shop and ask though.
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Thatll be something I might have to get soon :). It'd be nice to sell minnows and darters to people. Can I sell them as bait but if I were to sell them say for example online on a website would I have to label them as baitfish or could I just say native aquarium fish for sale?
 
divemaster99 said:
Thatll be something I might have to get soon :). It'd be nice to sell minnows and darters to people. Can I sell them as bait but if I were to sell them say for example online on a website would I have to label them as baitfish or could I just say native aquarium fish for sale?
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Thats something im not sure on. I think natives that are captive breed in captivity dont apply to the same rules though. Thats how pond supply place get away with it.
 
I know around me Big Al's when they were in Norristown (suburb of Philly) caught a lot of heat for selling channel cats. Fish commission became involved and they immediately stopped since they are a game fish in PA. You'd be surprised how many stores look past that rule of selling gamefish


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I've seen small channel cats in stores over the years,even bought an albino some years ago,but I was under the impression that they were not wild caught.
That place has gone down since it broke it's affiliation from Big Al's by the way.
 
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