> refraining from keeping any fish at all, let alone pets, livestock, etc.
Banning fertile cats would be a good thing..... :-)
> Ulike yourself, I am living in a part of the U.S. (the desert southwest)
> in which I am not "allowed" to keep, let alone collect, the vast majority
> of the native fish species. They are almost all either endangered or
Actually, all native Arizonan fish are protected irrespective of their
conservation status. It varies alot from state to state in the US (and
the Aussies think the Australian states can be bad in having consistant
legislation between them....).
> that is, to bring them back to the store or euthanize them, but to NEVER
> "set them free." As responsible aquarists, we need to do a much better
> job of educating and "policing" our own.
Actually Texas has taken the interesting step to make it illegal for a
pet shop/aquarium shop to refuse to take back fish even if they didn't
sell them originally. The shops aren't forced to pay for the fish, but
they have to dispose of them some way including possibly death.
I don't think we need to be talking about giving up the fish hobby
completely, no one has suggested this. We just have to recognise that
any fish kept in captivity or moved is a threat to the environment. The
next step is to ensure that this threat is minimal. In my opinion this
is yet to be done, even with all the importation legislation.
Ooroo
Peter Unmack