I am not collecting them though I am breeding them. I bought them off a licensed dealer (jonahs aquarium). So can I do what I want with them?
Who wants to trade natives?
- Thread starter kzimmerman
- Start date
Pyramid_Party;5011830; said:
Are they native to California? If they are, then you most likely can't legally sell them without a native fish propagation license if you breed them.
Pyramid_Party;5012205; said:
You should be fine then unless CA has some weird laws about selling non-native fishes that are native to other states.
bjbass;5014920; said:
Here's what I found:
It is unlawful to:
- To possess, to introduce or import, transport, sell, purchase, offer for sale or barter the following live species in the Commonwealth: snakehead (all species), black carp, bighead carp, silver carp, zebra mussel, quagga mussel, European rudd, rusty crayfish, ruffe, round goby and tubenose goby.
- To sell baitfish or fishbait taken from waters of the Commonwealth, except that licensed and authorized commercial fishermen may take and sell baitfish from Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay.
- To sell baitfish or fishbait within the Commonwealth, or transport same out of the state, except by authorized and licensed commercial bait dealers.
- To sell any species of fish, reptile (with the exception of snapping turtles) or amphibian taken from the Commonwealth.
- To sell, offer for sale, purchase or barter any fish parts or fish eggs obtained from fish taken from waters of this Commonwealth including boundary waters. This prohibition does not apply to fish parts or fish eggs:
(1) lawfully taken or sold or offered for sale by holders of Lake Erie commercial fishing licenses if the particular species of fish is authorized for taking by commercial licensees, or
(2) those obtained from fish taken lawfully from waters outside of this Commonwealth. - To use or have in possession while on or along Commonwealth waters, nets larger than 4 feet square or in diameter except with a special permit issued by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission.
So in short, it seems that caught native fishes from public land can be traded but not sold.
I'm going to get in contact with the PA Fish & Boat Commission soon to check on the legality of selling native fishes that one has bred themselves or collected from private property.
Wiggles92;5014990; said:
Nice find! I sent a message to them several months ago to find out if we can "buy" PA endangered/candidate species. Obviously we can't catch and keep them, but I was wondering if we can buy them to keep. The answer is no. No matter what we can't keep them. Which stinks because I would love to have a bowfin. Oh well. Anyways, I have a direct email address that you can use if you want of the gentleman that answered my question. PM if you want to pursue this.
bjbass;5017510; said:
Good thing that I didn't go and order a bowfin; I didn't realize that it was illegal to keep the here in PA even if they're purchased from an out-of-state vendor. I'll PM you for the email address.
Wiggles92;5018832; said:
Here is the response that I got BTW.
"Our endangered species regulations prohibit the importing/purchasing of these species (Title 58 PA Code, Chapter 75 Endangered Species -http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/058/chapter75/chap75toc.html). I suspect that the online retailers may have a disclaimer saying you should check with your state regarding the legality of purchasing certain fish."
He didn't specifically say candidate species too even though I asked about them, but I am pretty sure the regulation is the same for both. Bowfin are a candidate species in PA.
bjbass;5019070; said:
I think that we would be fine for getting bowfin because the code says that one is encouraged to release them rather than required to release them thereby making keeping wild-caught ones technically legal, too.
