# Sticky  State Regulations on fish capture/release



## TheOldSalt

We've had a bit of discussion lately regarding the release of fish into local waters, and of fishing itself. I did a little bit of digging, and found this on the North American Native Fishes Association website.

Bear in mind that many state laws are kinda screwy, ( some downright nonsense, even ) but we're stuck with them. Many of them are also too lax when it comes to the release of fish into local waters. National law, however, supercedes state laws, and as such it is not legal to release any fish into waters not it's own, and not after being held captive in a closed or open system where it could have been exposed to any other fishes or equipment used in the maintenance of other fishes. ( naturally there are a whole bunch of subsections covering the details and exceptions )

Things are only going to get worse, you know. More and more nasty new diseases and alien pests keep showing up in our waters, doing lots of damage, and rather than blame the parties most directly responsible for economic and political reasons, eco-groups and lawmakers point their grubby little fingers in the direction of least resistance, right at the fishkeepers. An easy mark for a scumbag looking for some quick feel-good votes, the aquarium hobby is at very high risk for needless regulation and restriction. If you keep birds or herps you already know just how far out of hand things can really get.
This would be a BAD thing, boys and girls, so DON'T DUMP FISH!!! EVER! NO EXCUSES!!!

The link:

http://forum.nanfa.org/index.php?showforum=1


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## Apotheosis

That's unfortunate. It's not my fault that some fishkeepers are stupid enough to release fish back in the wild.


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## Clerk

Thank you for posting this TOS


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## David-P

so i have a comet i need to find a home for, as he should never have gone in my 10 gallon tank in the first place. How do i go about finding a pond to relocate him into?


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## Apotheosis

^Find someone who owns a pond that's willing to take it. Most people who have ponds keep goldfish or koi.


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## __undrestimated

David-P said:


> so i have a comet i need to find a home for, as he should never have gone in my 10 gallon tank in the first place. How do i go about finding a pond to relocate him into?



Find someone who has a man made pond that you could add him to. Don't put him in a natural pond or a natural body of water.


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## David-P

i am trying to think and i can not think of anyone who has a pond, However there is a restaurant that has a Koi & goldfish pond. I know it sounds kind of silly but i don't know what else to do with him. I do not want to take him back to the store.

Could that be an option?


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## Apotheosis

I suppose you could do that, if you have their permission. If you don't have room and can't find a pond for it, there's not much else you can do except return it to the store. If they won't take it, then you're really screwed. lol At that point, upgrading to a much larger tank, building a pond, or euthanizing it are the only options.


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## Obsidian

It never hurts to ask the restaurant  Probably a great option. you can also put it up for sale or trade on here (or even free) and pond owners may want to take him. There is a section for that


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## David-P

i also have a friend who has a larger tank something in the 30-50 gallon range that is already stocked. And from what i have heard he is planning to set up another much larger tank. 

I suppose he might take a goldie


but anyway do not let me completely hijack this thread with my problems


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## Apotheosis

That might work, as long as he isn't keeping tropical fish.


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## Guest

i bet the restraunt would take it plus you could make a post that says free on aquabid and get someone to take him


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## Damon

Search for a local aquarium club. Someone there will take it or at least know where you can take it.


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## Nautilus

So flushing dead fish down the drain is bad? Huh, no wonder my mom dump dead fish in the trash instead.


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## TheOldSalt

Wow, your mom is smart! Too bad everybody doesn't get it like she does.


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## Nautilus

I asked her about. She said she puts in the trash so it wouldn't waste water. *laughs*


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## Benty

The cannals by my house are overun with fish from all over. Besides are normal fish, we have everything from danios to neons to barbs to who knows what else. Obviously turned loose. A few times already there were fines posted about releasing fish (but how do they know who did it?!) and catching native fish for stores. When it was really bad in the winter, there was a short time where there was even a small reward for removing those fish who had been introduced. Not much but still pretty cool to get paid to get petshop fish. You could even sell them back to the store. Next weekend I'm heading to catch some small fish actually. My friend found a huge group of black mollies (sailfin mollies are native here but not black lyre ones).


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## ThatFishKid

where are you?! I would kill for a week of catching feral tropical fish. the worst thing we have around here is the ocasional olive green wild goldfish...which i guess is a good thing, but still, that sounds like fun.:fish:
don't get me wrong, it still makes me sick.


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## Mew_chan

People are just ignorant... and stupid if they think they have a right to just dump unwanted fish or any animal for that matter... I'm glad you posted this even if it does not apply to me... the thing is they often think it is only them and that is half the problem... This is how you get feral populations of any type of animal... and infestations of animals like Carp clogging rivers, destroying the local environment and pushing out native fish... Can you tell I have a big beef with people who do this?


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## Toshogu

David-P said:


> so i have a comet i need to find a home for, as he should never have gone in my 10 gallon tank in the first place. How do i go about finding a pond to relocate him into?


Either find a neighbor who has an artificial pond, or do the right thing and put the fish down.


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## mls3371971

Reading this reminds me of the show I watched the other night. River Monsters it was on the Bullseye Snakeshead. They were brought into the U.S from China and have been spreading. There are signs up where I live at lakes and rivers and streams that if you find it. Kill it. They are not to be released back into the waters. The good thing is that they are good eating.. The bad thing is they are killing off our natural fish.


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## yannis2307

yeah that episode of river monsters was fantastic! ive also seen it! And it says the snakehead's heading up the river! btw this convo gets more and more off the starting topic...


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## mls3371971

No the starting topic was releasing fish into the water systems. Its a BIG no...It causes so many problems for our natural fish and I was just saying brought the snakeheads into mind.


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## lohachata

actually not off topic at all...the releasing of the snakeheads is exactly why animals of any kind should never be released into the wild..


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## TheOldSalt

Yep, a shining example indeed.


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