I"ve contacted all 50 state agencies and summarized much of it for one
chapter in American Aquarium Fishes (Texas A&M University Press 2000). States
differ in their legal requirements and constraints, some of them remarkably
backward and others forward looking or uncaring. The general rules are (1)
you should have a valid fishing license and adhere to techniques for
collecting bait fishes, (2) you should explain to anyone who asks that you
are collecting baitfish, (3) never collect in a trout stream or stream that
is purported to contain protected species. The consensus among field
biologists is that nobody cares if you take fish home for your own aquarium
(again, some states don't even permit this), and they don't care if you sell
the offspring you can produce in your own tanks or hatcheries, but they
vigorously oppose collection of wild fish for commercial purposes (and it's
illegal everywhere as far as I can tell, with the exception of standard
coastal baitfishes). If you're looking for a philosophical discussion, for
most of us it's been there, done that, and it doesn't matter how many angels
are on the head of a pin, since the laws have the final say.
Robert J. Goldstein, Ph.D.
Robert J. Goldstein & Associates, Inc.
Environmental Consultants
8480 Garvey Drive
Raleigh, NC 27616 USA
tel (919) 872-1174
fax (919) 872-9214
URL www.rjgaCarolina.com
e-mail rgoldstein at rjgaCarolina.com
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I"ve contacted all 50 state agencies and summarized much of it for one
chapter in American Aquarium Fishes (Texas A&M University Press 2000). States
differ in their legal requirements and constraints, some of them remarkably
backward and others forward looking or uncaring. The general rules are (1)
you should have a valid fishing license and adhere to techniques for
collecting bait fishes, (2) you should explain to anyone who asks that you
are collecting baitfish, (3) never collect in a trout stream or stream that
is purported to contain protected species. The consensus among field
biologists is that nobody cares if you take fish home for your own aquarium
(again, some states don't even permit this), and they don't care if you sell
the offspring you can produce in your own tanks or hatcheries, but they
vigorously oppose collection of wild fish for commercial purposes (and it's
illegal everywhere as far as I can tell, with the exception of standard
coastal baitfishes). If you're looking for a philosophical discussion, for
most of us it's been there, done that, and it doesn't matter how many angels
are on the head of a pin, since the laws have the final say.
Robert J. Goldstein, Ph.D.
Robert J. Goldstein & Associates, Inc.
Environmental Consultants
8480 Garvey Drive
Raleigh, NC 27616 USA
tel (919) 872-1174
fax (919) 872-9214
URL www.rjgaCarolina.com
e-mail rgoldstein at rjgaCarolina.com
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