Who is to blame for non-native fish releases (seemingly clear but...)

[FJB]

A recent paper (see clip) places blame of a recent detected introduction on the "uncontrolled ornamental fish trading". While at some level this may be so, there are so many levels involved that the blame belongs more on some segments and not others.

The point is, the blame is not equally shared among all involved, and there are multiple benefits of the fish keeping hobby and trading, as well as risks and potential dangers. The article... (available free at the link on top).

 

[Deadeye]

All of this stems from the fish trade, but I don’t think you can fault it. A trader didn’t intend on release, that was up to the individual keeper.
It is up to the keepers to be responsible with their pets and not to release them where they will harm local ecosystems. Especially since it results in restrictions and ruins the fun for all of us who just want to properly keep the fish.
Take snakeheads, their release was from a restaurant…not even related to the fish trade.

 

[jjohnwm]

The exotic animal trade/industry is an easy target, a low-hanging fruit that is attractive to lawmakers to make it look like they are moving heaven and earth to protect the planet. Look! Look! See how much we are doing! We banned the keeping of African elephants a few years ago, and today we have not a single complaint of nuisance elephants anywhere in North America! We are heroes!

Gee...in the Great Lakes I am constantly hearing about the impending environmental apocalypse caused by Zebra Mussels, Spiny Water Fleas, Round Gobies...the list goes on and on, a litany of critters that are thought to have been introduced through ships ballast water being taken on in another part of the world and then ejected into the Lakes. I guess they had better start banning international shipping next...

How about plants? Ornamental gardens have populated North America with all sorts of invasives...dandelions, loosestrife, tiger lilies, and many many more. Why is this allowed? Who needs flowers, anyway?

I'm tellin' ya, there oughta be a law...

 

[Krismo962]

Something similar happened in my country and ofcourse the media went on a rampage telling people that alligator are dangerous 'man eating fish' and created mass hysteria ,now alligator gar have been banned even though all the proof they had was a few photos of 1 gar which some angler caught in a lake. Hopefully he authorities in India handle this well and don't outright ban all gar (which will happen here soon enough,it's not like the people in charge at the airport know $%# about fish anyway,they won't be able to tell them apart). Everyone talks about the harm done by invasive fish,then what about actual problems affecting native fish? water pollution is killing native fish species at a much faster rate.

 

[jjohnwm]

Something similar happened in my country and ofcourse the media went on a rampage telling people that alligator are dangerous 'man eating fish' and created mass hysteria ,now alligator gar have been banned even though all the proof they had was a few photos of 1 gar which some angler caught in a lake. Hopefully he authorities in India handle this well and don't outright ban all gar (which will happen here soon enough,it's not like the people in charge at the airport know $%# about fish anyway,they won't be able to tell them apart). Everyone talks about the harm done by invasive fish,then what about actual problems affecting native fish? water pollution is killing native fish species at a much faster rate.

Sounds like par for the course. When I was a kid, living along the Detroit River separating Canada from the US, an angler caught a large pacu in the river one summer. It was misidentified as a piranha and the local papers did their level best to cause a panic. The spectre of roving packs of killer fish making the river a deathtrap for people and native fish was repeatedly waved over our heads. People were frightened to go fishing, afraid that their fingers would be severed the instant they touched the water.

It was one largely herbivorous fish, an obvious release that had outgrown somebody's tank and had been disposed of in the river. We ice-fished in the quieter stretches of that river every winter; that fish was destined to die at the end of the summer whether or not it was captured, and it certainly wasn't going to spontaneously clone itself and overrun the waterway...yet it was big news!

Yet somehow, the extremely high level of pollution that plagued that river in those days was never even mentioned in the media...despite the fact that it posed a far greater risk to wildilfe, the environment and local people than any overgrown tetra ever could...

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

All of this stems from the fish trade, but I don’t think you can fault it. A trader didn’t intend on release, that was up to the individual keeper.
It is up to the keepers to be responsible with their pets and not to release them where they will harm local ecosystems. Especially since it results in restrictions and ruins the fun for all of us who just want to properly keep the fish.
Take snakeheads, their release was from a restaurant…not even related to the fish trade.

I'd not say all of it. For three, aquaculture (+ hurricane or a flood or a dam failure, etc.), marine transport (ship ballast releases), and immigrants recreating a familiar food source (walking catfish apocalypse in Florida) add to the releases of exotics.

The exotic animal trade/industry is an easy target, a low-hanging fruit that is attractive to lawmakers to make it look like they are moving heaven and earth to protect the planet. Look! Look! See how much we are doing! We banned the keeping of African elephants a few years ago, and today we have not a single complaint of nuisance elephants anywhere in North America! We are heroes!

Gee...in the Great Lakes I am constantly hearing about the impending environmental apocalypse caused by Zebra Mussels, Spiny Water Fleas, Round Gobies...the list goes on and on, a litany of critters that are thought to have been introduced through ships ballast water being taken on in another part of the world and then ejected into the Lakes. I guess they had better start banning international shipping next...

How about plants? Ornamental gardens have populated North America with all sorts of invasives...dandelions, loosestrife, tiger lilies, and many many more. Why is this allowed? Who needs flowers, anyway?

I'm tellin' ya, there oughta be a law...

Haha... Yes, a law that if a law contradicts logic, sense, and the good of the people, the logic, sense, and the good of the people supersede the law haha... Yes, can't discount politics and the fact that the good intentions are often being materialized poorly by a rigid, bureaucratic lawmakers and enforcing governmental agencies.

Something similar happened in my country and ofcourse the media went on a rampage telling people that alligator are dangerous 'man eating fish' and created mass hysteria ,now alligator gar have been banned even though all the proof they had was a few photos of 1 gar which some angler caught in a lake. Hopefully he authorities in India handle this well and don't outright ban all gar (which will happen here soon enough,it's not like the people in charge at the airport know $%# about fish anyway,they won't be able to tell them apart). Everyone talks about the harm done by invasive fish,then what about actual problems affecting native fish? water pollution is killing native fish species at a much faster rate.

Media is paid to do this, it seems. It's in fashion. Objective, thoughtful, truthful and diligent journalism is an atavism now and has been thrown away except for a handful of diehards. Media is a gun now to shoot your enemies, keep the rest in fear and in line. From the 70-ies through 2000's the planet was expecting the next ice age. 100%! Twenty years later we are led to believe that we will soon fry to death...

What country is that? And is the statistic of the causes of fish disappearance known? Can it be cited?

Sounds like par for the course. When I was a kid, living along the Detroit River separating Canada from the US, an angler caught a large pacu in the river one summer. It was misidentified as a piranha and the local papers did their level best to cause a panic. The spectre of roving packs of killer fish making the river a deathtrap for people and native fish was repeatedly waved over our heads. People were frightened to go fishing, afraid that their fingers would be severed the instant they touched the water.

There you go. The media is where people make money, move their careers, become famous, media personalities and celebrities at the top... Influencers, that's a contemporary title of honor, haha.... "Good evening everyone! Let me influence you a bit today with a roster of specifically chosen news and words and analyses about them, where truth and objectivity is beside the point".... haha... It is easy with such workers to make the media into whatever you want, a weapon. A sword of (mis)information. A gun of (forced) opinion. A psychological tactical nuclear missile too. Add the prevalence of snowflake-minded, gullible people with boxed in, watered down education and minds so pliable. Their psyche are like a child's putty...

... Yet somehow, the extremely high level of pollution that plagued that river in those days was never even mentioned in the media...despite the fact that it posed a far greater risk to wildilfe, the environment and local people than any overgrown tetra ever could...

Money control and move mouths. Lobbying special interests is a legitimate corruption. We, as the people, eat it with a spoon and at the end of the day go to sleep in blissful content and ignorance that everything's alright. There will be another day tomorrow.

...

Don't take Mr. $0.02 seriously though.

 

[RD.]

When I was a kid, living along the Detroit River separating Canada from the US, an angler caught a large pacu in the river one summer.

A fellow native of Windsor? I grew up in Riverside, the Detroit River being a stones throw from my front door. What year was that pacu caught, do you recall?

 

[duanes]

Perception is the problem here.
And those people who buy fish that get too big for any tank they will "ever have", may ruin it for the rest of aquarists by letting them go in nature, whether those other aquarists are blameless or not.
Buying an eventually "too big" fish thinking it can be sold or given away once it outgrows a tank, is not realistic.
If a fish gets too big for one average aquarists tank, how many other aquarists will have an adequate sizeone, and pay for the fish.
Realistically a very low percentage.
A friend who runs the aquatic exhibit at a public zoo, says he gets requests to take red tail cats, pacu, gars, dovii and other big fish almost weekly, and cannot take any of them.
If these fish are released, therein lies the perception that aquarists are the problem, and may be the cause of future regulations.
Most aquarists would be better off , and moe humane just eating them, but I doubt they would.
The last aquarium auction I attended, a bag of young dovii came up.
Most experienced aquarists laughed, and no one with any sense bid, until
I ended up getting the bag of 10 juvies for $1, so the auction could move on.
The dovii whittled down themselves down to a pair as expected, luckily, but I had a 300 gal rubbermaid waiting for two that were left..

 

[FJB]

Before posting this, I wondered whether I should, because I know there are no easy solutions nor general agreements. Some of my own views + a number of others have been mentioned already.
One item I found interesting is that the article went through peer review and the statement in the abstract was not questioned. After all, this journal’s editorial board and body of reviewers include people with diverse fish related backgrounds, anywhere from taxonomists, fisheries folks, managers and others. So it is not just the media.

 

[fishguy1978]

Perception is the problem here.
And those people who buy fish that get too big for any tank they will "ever have", may ruin it for the rest of aquarists by letting them go in nature, whether those other aquarists are blameless or not.
Buying an eventually "too big" fish thinking it can be sold or given away once it outgrows a tank, is not realistic.
If a fish gets too big for one average aquarists tank, how many other aquarists will have an adequate one, and pay for it. Realistically a very low percentage.
A friend who runs the aquatic exhibit at a public zoo, says he gets requests to take red tail cats, pacu, gars, dovii and other big fish almost weekly, and cannot take any of them.
If these fish are released, therein lies the perception that aquarists are the problem, and may be the cause of future regulations.
Most aquarists would be better off just eating them, but I doubt they would.
The last aquarium auction I attended, a bag of young dovii came up.
Most experienced aquarists laughed, and no one with any sense bid, until
I ended up getting the bag of 10 for $1 so the auction could move on.
The dovii whittled down themselves down to a pair as expected, but I had a 300 gal rubbermaid waiting for them.

My nearest LFS used to take any oversized fish that was brought in because the owner had a pet gator at home. He would gladly rehome free food. If I worked at a zoo I would gladly do the same taking in free food for any of the meat eating animals in my care.