wels

[Wiggles92]

You would have to take precautions to make sure someone doesn't catch it from your pond and release it. In the past I have had fish stolen from a 20,000 gallon pond.

All it takes is for someone to find out you have one in your pond and think it would be awesome to catch them in the river. Then next thing you notice you are missing a fish and reports of fisherman hooking a huge fish that keeps getting away.

Yes, that's the only thing I would worry about, but the overall size and weight of an adult wels would make moving it highly prohibitive plus, by having just one wels, one would avoid having a breeding population get established in any local waterways should someone put it there. In my case, the location of the pond makes it prohibitive to attempt to transport such a large fish because the pond is inaccessible by cars and trucks.

Excerpt from CFR regulations:

Title 9 Animals and Animal Products

PART 93—IMPORTATION OF CERTAIN ANIMALS, BIRDS, FISH, AND POULTRY, AND CERTAIN ANIMAL, BIRD, AND POULTRY PRODUCTS; REQUIREMENTS FOR MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS

Subpart I—Aquatic Animal Species


§ 93.900 Definitions

Spring viremia of carp (SVC) . A disease caused by infection with spring viremia of carp virus, a rhabodivrus capable of infecting several carp species, in addition to some other cyprinid and ictalurid fish species.
SVC-susceptible species . Common carp ( Cyprinus carpio ), grass carp ( Ctenopharyngodon idellus ), silver carp ( Hypophthalmichthys molitrix ), bighead carp ( Aristichthys nobilis ), Crucian carp ( Carassius carassius ), goldfish ( Carassius auratus ), tench ( Tinca tinca ), and sheatfish ( Silurus glanis )

§ 93.901 General restrictions

(a) No live fish, fertilized eggs, or gametes of SVC-susceptible species may be imported into the United States except in accordance with this subpart,11 nor shall any such live fish, fertilized eggs, or gametes be moved from the port of entry after arrival until released by the port veterinarian; provided that the Administrator may, upon request in specific cases, allow the importation of SVC-susceptible live fish, fertilized eggs, or gametes under conditions other than those set forth in this subpart when the Administrator determines that such movement will not result in the introduction of SVC into the United States.

End of text

There is your citation for prohibiting import of Wels catfish, except under very restricted guidelines.

The guidelines can't be that restrictive, if all imported koi and goldfish must go through them. I do hope any prospective wels keepers will be as cautious as Wiggles seems to be. I don't think wels are the giant superpredators they are sometimes made out to be, but we certainly don't need yet another exotic fish established in the US. If anything, wels would compete with similar-sized native cats such as flatheads and blues, and possibly other big-water predators such as moronid basses.

That regulation basically states that they have to be disease free, specifically spring viremia of carp (SVC)-free,in order to import them; there are probably farms in Europe or elsewhere that are certified to be free of that disease or the incoming shipments are inspected. If you read the rest of the regulation, you'll notice that fish on that list have to be specially packed and kept separate from pretty much anything else and then have to be checked and cleared by a veterinarian at the port where they're coming.

As Noto mentioned, all imported koi and goldfish go through the same exact process, and those fishes are legally imported on a regular basis by both companies and private individuals, so it can't be terribly difficult to do.

I agree that we don't need them to multiply and spread which is why certain precautions are necessary such as only having one of them and ensuring that they can't escape during flood conditions with only having one being the most important for long-term conservation of native species.

 

[Ponyo]

they are tasty with a lil salt, pepper and starch, then deep fried with a squeeze of lime.

 

[FLESHY]

This would be insane...having it would be so cool.

Ill put it on my to get list.

I wish less attention was paid to the things that COULD do damage, and more was being paid to the things that already have...carp in our waterways are doing more damage than snakeheads or any catfish will ever do in the far forseeable future.

 

[Wiggles92]

This would be insane...having it would be so cool.

Ill put it on my to get list.

I wish less attention was paid to the things that COULD do damage, and more was being paid to the things that already have...carp in our waterways are doing more damage than snakeheads or any catfish will ever do in the far forseeable future.

x2.

Common carp and the various other species of carp (silver carp, etc.) have done quite a bit of damage to ecosystems across the U.S. since their introduction and yet no one seems to care about all of the common carp that are in these waterways. A big deal was made out of snakeheads because of their ability to breath air and cross over land during storms plus their purported aggressive nature and willingness to attack humans; only problem with the part about them being aggressive is the fact that they tend to be like that only when they're guarding their young. As for the wels and other large catfish, they are not a long-term threat as long as they aren't getting put in waterways in numbers that would allow them to sustain a breeding population. I could go on and on about other supposedly "good" introductions such as salmon and trout in the Great Lakes and other rivers and streams (most of those introduced species aren't native to these areas and never were).

The main thing with any fish is to make sure that it can't escape and breed then take over in our waterways.

 

[screaminleeman]

x2.

Common carp and the various other species of carp (silver carp, etc.) have done quite a bit of damage to ecosystems across the U.S. since their introduction and yet no one seems to care about all of the common carp that are in these waterways. A big deal was made out of snakeheads because of their ability to breath air and cross over land during storms plus their purported aggressive nature and willingness to attack humans; only problem with the part about them being aggressive is the fact that they tend to be like that only when they're guarding their young. As for the wels and other large catfish, they are not a long-term threat as long as they aren't getting put in waterways in numbers that would allow them to sustain a breeding population. I could go on and on about other supposedly "good" introductions such as salmon and trout in the Great Lakes and other rivers and streams (most of those introduced species aren't native to these areas and never were).

The main thing with any fish is to make sure that it can't escape and breed then take over in our waterways.

I can NOT STOP LMAO at this crap. What in the way of "top" freshwater gamefish ARE NOT NON-NATIVE?

Bass??? PLEASE!!!

It is only "invasive" if some prick in an office pushing a pencil declares it to be.

 

[screaminleeman]

This would be insane...having it would be so cool.

Ill put it on my to get list.

I wish less attention was paid to the things that COULD do damage, and more was being paid to the things that already have...carp in our waterways are doing more damage than snakeheads or any catfish will ever do in the far forseeable future.

Amen!

 

[Wiggles92]

I can NOT STOP LMAO at this crap. What in the way of "top" freshwater gamefish ARE NOT NON-NATIVE?

Bass??? PLEASE!!!

It is only "invasive" if some prick in an office pushing a pencil declares it to be.
View attachment 606233

So true. It seems like every state, country, etc. has some sort of introduced species that's disrupted the ecosystem more than some of these so-called "invasive species" yet it's allowed to stay and is being stocked just because it has sporting value or some other reason.

 

[Noto]

I can NOT STOP LMAO at this crap. What in the way of "top" freshwater gamefish ARE NOT NON-NATIVE?

Bass??? PLEASE!!!

It is only "invasive" if some prick in an office pushing a pencil declares it to be.

View attachment 606233

Depends where you are. Largemouth, smallmouth, spotted, white, yellow, and rock bass are native to my area, but Florida, Coosa, striped, and white X striped bass have been stocked. I absolutely agree that gamefish stocking is out of control and contributes to a lot of ecological problems, but it does not follow that it's OK for Joe Blow to throw any fish he feels like into the local river. Two separate issues.

Re: common carp- they're ignored because nobody has an inkling how to control them. They're a lost cause, like starlings or Norway rats. There's an ambitious carp eradication effort going on in June Lake and it's a huge program for what is really a fairly small body of water; applying that kind of program (and it's far from clear that it will even work in June Lake) to a major watershed would consume a significant chunk of the national budget.

 

[Mr.Catfish]

Another reason their are restrictions on new Invasive species is they don't want the same thing to happen as with the carp. Carp were introduced around 1831 and in 50 years were established nationwide. It would be nearly impossible to eradicate the carp now.

 

[troppond]

I would put up chicken wire and the water only gets about a foot high when it touches the creek. The pond is a half acre