> The consensus among field
> biologists is that nobody cares if you take fish home for your own
> aquarium
But a Forest Service aquaintance told me that it *is* a
concern, which is why I posed this question to the list.
> (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.
For those of us who haven't "been there and done that,"
it's an issue we (I) want to explore. And we could benefit
from the comments of those of you who have "been there
and done that." (But if enough people tell me to shut up
and get lost, I'll go away ....)
The law may have the final say, but I want to know what's
best for wild fish. What are the long-term consequences of
taking them out of the wild for personal aquariums, and
should advocates of native fishes be encouraging this practice?
I think it's a reasonable question to ask and think about ....
- shireen
-- Shireen Gonzaga Baltimore, MD whimbrel at home.com
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