# govt to ban import of exotic fish



## pyrodarknessanny (Aug 21, 2010)

there was a thing in our local new papper today, there is talk that the deparment of enviromental protection or some other govement mob, is planing to bring in a ban on all exotic fish species, 
if passed would most definatly screw a lot of pepole out of jobs, severly mess up the industry and advercly affect the econimy, 

as almost all the whole sellers import the majority of there stock. 
wounder if any one know any more. 

i know if passed it will send the price of many commonly avalible fish now skyrocketing, and many more fish will disapear compleatly from our trade.


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## Laghairt (Aug 21, 2010)

Sounds like a great idea to me



pyrodarknessanny said:


> there was a thing in our local new papper today, there is talk that the deparment of enviromental protection or some other govement mob, is planing to bring in a ban on all exotic fish species,
> if passed would most definatly screw a lot of pepole out of jobs, severly mess up the industry and advercly affect the econimy,
> 
> as almost all the whole sellers import the majority of there stock.
> ...


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## D3pro (Aug 21, 2010)

they should also ban exotic humans


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## dossy (Aug 21, 2010)

yer the fish trade will hit rock bottom 
all the common tropical are non aussie ie the guppys and mollies and silver sharks 
most of these fish can not survive in the wild because of temps and needing certain foods. 
also they will never get rid of all of these fish because one fish can lay around 2000( dependent on what fish and give or take a bit) eggs a year making it almost impossible 
im all for making people responsible for their pets wether fish reptiles birds dogs ect 
i keep tropical fish at home and not one has been flushed down the toilet or thrown out side making it possible for other animals to eat it all my dead fish (5 in 2 years 3 of wich were new borns) have been incinerated and the other fry have been given to people whp feed them to their captive animals.


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## Jay84 (Aug 22, 2010)

Why not ban the import of exotic fish? The reptile imports are banned. Why allow fish? Why allow birds? Why allow dogs? Where do you draw the line?

Maybe it will create jobs? Fish breeding centres, local jobs, may be a good thing.


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## JasonL (Aug 22, 2010)

ban all exotics, birds, fish, plants....


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## Waterrat (Aug 22, 2010)

There is a lesson to learn for all herpers - make sure your animals will never be released to the wild, especially in places where they don't belong.
The reason for banning exotic fishes is because irresponsible aquarists (and kids) released dozens of exotic species in their hundreds into our creeks and rivers. North Qld waterways are dominated by Tilapia and other species, pushing out our native species out of existence. Don't blame the government, blame the idiots in the hobby.


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## antaresia_boy (Aug 22, 2010)

great idea jason. get rid of those crops that farmers rely on? that could help. Where do you draw the line on what we can have in here, you can't simply say nothing exotic fullstop.


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## Retic (Aug 22, 2010)

I agree, also ban everyone from keeping animals outside of their natural range. 



JasonL said:


> ban all exotics, birds, fish, plants....


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## Laghairt (Aug 22, 2010)

Well said Waterrat.



Waterrat said:


> There is a lesson to learn for all herpers - make sure your animals will never be released to the wild, especially in places where they don't belong.
> The reason for banning exotic fishes is because irresponsible aquarists (and kids) released dozens of exotic species in their hundreds into our creeks and rivers. North Qld waterways are dominated by Tilapia and other species, pushing out our native species out of existence. Don't blame the government, blame the idiots in the hobby.


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## Asharee133 (Aug 22, 2010)

I dont wanna loose my bird :S


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## Waterrat (Aug 22, 2010)

boa said:


> I agree, also ban everyone from keeping animals outside of their natural range.



Have you got your flame suit on Boa?


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## cris (Aug 22, 2010)

Waterrat said:


> Don't blame the government, blame the idiots in the hobby.


 
The government is/has been a problem too, they still introduce trout, have previously introduced gambusia and allowed imports of problem species.


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## Retic (Aug 22, 2010)

I just leave it on all the time 



Waterrat said:


> Have you got your flame suit on Boa?


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## Waterrat (Aug 22, 2010)

boa said:


> I just leave it on all the time


 
Did you realise that NO ONE would be allowed to keep GTPs, including myself? Keep it on I am reaching out for my flame thrower.


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## Retic (Aug 22, 2010)

Quite right too, no-one should keep these exotics. As has been said before if you want exotics move to where you are allowed to have them.


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## Waterrat (Aug 22, 2010)

boa said:


> Quite right too, no-one should keep these exotics. As has been said before if you want exotics move to where you are allowed to have them.



What? Exotics? Put you helmet on and crawl under the bed. LOL


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## Laghairt (Aug 22, 2010)

Come on Boa are you just trying to start a fight here? You can't be serious. What's the issue with keeping a GTP in Victoria for instance. There is no chance of them escaping and establishing a wild colony.

I'm not going to get dragged into an argument, but I'm sure many people will feel the need to express their opinion on this issue. 



boa said:


> Quite right too, no-one should keep these exotics. As has been said before if you want exotics move to where you are allowed to have them.


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## Waterrat (Aug 22, 2010)

I don't think Boa or I were serious about any of this. Cheer up.


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## Laghairt (Aug 22, 2010)

LOL, ok sorry didn't read the thread properly. I should be studying anyway.


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## Retic (Aug 22, 2010)

Don't worry Anouc, just some harmless banter between myself and Michael.


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## cockney red (Aug 22, 2010)

Whats a exotic fish


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## Laghairt (Aug 22, 2010)

It's a type of bird



cockney red said:


> Whats a exotic fish


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## cockney red (Aug 22, 2010)

anouc said:


> It's a type of bird


 AAAAH...A flying fish


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## Laghairt (Aug 22, 2010)

LOL, yep


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## Pythoninfinite (Aug 22, 2010)

Banter between you two is NEVER harmless...


boa said:


> Don't worry Anouc, just some harmless banter between myself and Michael.


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## Retic (Aug 22, 2010)




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## D3pro (Aug 22, 2010)

And just like they did to the herpers who kept exotics, they should go and find anyone keeping exotic fish and take their pets... why should fish keepers get it easy? If I can't have a green anaconda then you shouldn't have your exotic fish lol


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## Snowman (Aug 22, 2010)

D3pro said:


> And just like they did to the herpers who kept exotics, they should go and find anyone keeping exotic fish and take their pets... why should fish keepers get it easy? If I can't have a green anaconda then you shouldn't have your exotic fish lol


Where does it stop? Cats, dogs, birds the list goes on...... Personally I'm all for Australian pets for Australians. But that's never going to happen...... For starters WA doesn't even want us to keep native animals


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## D3pro (Aug 22, 2010)

I agree snowman, we should all get our kids dingo's for dogs and possums for cats


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## Waterrat (Aug 22, 2010)

Bandicoots are wonderful pets for children. They teach them respect towards animals very quickly. Cats an dogs don't have that talent.


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## dottyback (Aug 22, 2010)

Seriously though. Banning the importation on some or all ornamental fish is down out right ludicrous! Many people will be out of jobs, from the humble kid that cleans fish tanks at an aquarium to the AQUIS inspector that clears fish coming into a quarantine facility! This is a hobby that has been in Australia for a long time, a far bigger hobby than reptile keeping!

Fish are inspected twice when coming into the country and released from quarantine, certain fish have various time frames they have to remain in quarantine, and more 'disease' susceptible fish remain longer, i.e. 21 days. Most fish diseases are able to be checked through a microscope and treated with various medications, there are I believe to be 2 diseases that can 'slip through the system' these can affect most fish species but are more susceptible to gourami's species, as far as I am aware these 2 fish diseases can be picked up if %5 of the imported fish are euthanized and dissected the disease can be found.
Fish keeping is a fantastic hobby for the young and old and I like a lot of herp’s kept fish long before I started keeping reptiles.


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## Waterrat (Aug 22, 2010)

dottyback, I agree with you but this is nothing to do with quarantine or diseases - it's about stupid people chucking unwanted fish into our waterways. Stupid soft-hearts who can't bring themselves to euthanise their unwanted fish, instead they give them "an opportunity to live" in a local creek. How can we quarantine stupidity?


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## Laghairt (Aug 22, 2010)

I have to agree with Waterrat on this one, you should never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.


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## Carpetpythonmorphs (Aug 22, 2010)

-Public servants/bureaucrats in so called conservation departments often love kicking animal keepers whether they be reptile, mammal or fish keepers.
-While they themselves are part of a system that allows the release of millions of feral predatory fish (trout) a known threatening process, into our waterways.
-I think the federal police might have something to do with the ban, however, as I found out in a book called the "Lizard King" that other much more illegal things come in with the fish.


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## icedmice (Aug 22, 2010)

Waterrat said:


> dottyback, I agree with you but this is nothing to do with quarantine or diseases - it's about stupid people chucking unwanted fish into our waterways. Stupid soft-hearts who can't bring themselves to euthanise their unwanted fish, instead they give them "an opportunity to live" in a local creek. How can we quarantine stupidity?



I totally agree. I shudder at the thought of anybody deliberately releasing exotic species. 
Sometimes being soft hearted also makes you ignorant to the bigger picture. 
People can understand that they've given their "pet" freedom but don't understand impact their "pet" has on native ecosystems.


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## Scleropages (Aug 22, 2010)

EEkk I better sell off all my fish... anyone got a few albino olives for sale? swaps?

The Noxious list has been geting bigger each year.. Most aquarium people have knowen this will happen for a wile now.


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## D3pro (Aug 22, 2010)

of course, by doing this... exotic fish will be much more valuable... so the government will be giving exotic importers a bigger range of products to sell on the black market (the most fun market in the world)


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## The_Dreaded_Pets (Aug 22, 2010)

i havnt hurd anything about it myself but i dont watch but would deffinatly screw the chain pet stores and give alot more power to the smaller stores that already buy from local breeders. i breed fish for most of my teens already alot of money in it if ur willing to spend the time on it if something like that was to happen id have to replace the 50 tanks i got rid of sell a few kids for more space n start up again


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## girdheinz (Aug 22, 2010)

Scleropages said:


> EEkk I better sell off all my fish... anyone got a few albino olives for sale? swaps?
> 
> The Noxious list has been geting bigger each year.. Most aquarium people have knowen this will happen for a wile now.



i don't has a GAR ;-)


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## richoman_3 (Aug 22, 2010)

but .... all my fishies :O
i dont think they would do this, every time you go into an aquarium, about 3% of fish there are native


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## lurker_sp (Aug 22, 2010)

It has everything to do with disease and quarantine! 
Well said Dotty.

http://www.daff.gov.au/__data/asset.../2009-06a_Ornamental_finfish_draft_report.pdf

Mind you this is all based on false research designed to raise revenue for the person/organization that does the batch testing...but I ramble. It has never been proven that the iridovirus was not present here in Australia to begin with.

This is also a timely reminder to Herpers that what the govt. giveth with one hand, it can taketh away with the other. They might look at our hobby a little closer next?


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## Jay84 (Aug 22, 2010)

So is this about banning the IMPORT of fish...or banning the keeping of EXOTIC fish???


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## Snowman (Aug 22, 2010)

dottyback said:


> Seriously though. Banning the importation on some or all ornamental fish is down out right ludicrous! Many people will be out of jobs, from the humble kid that cleans fish tanks at an aquarium to the AQUIS inspector that clears fish coming into a quarantine facility! This is a hobby that has been in Australia for a long time, a far bigger hobby than reptile keeping!.


 
You always hear that people will be out of jobs when something changes... But that's life, people move on. The government was talking about not having to lodge tax returns... How many accountants will that put out of work? The garbage men were replaced with a robot arm on the back of the garbage truck. What happened to all the guys that used to service public telephones that are no longer needed since we all have mobile phones.The list is infinite of jobs that have disappeared. Bringing up that it will put many people out of jobs isn't really part of the argument IMO. 
Surely even with import bans there are enough exotic fish in Australia to sustain the hobby though. Even if they went as far as banning sale of exotic fish there will be a massive underground market. It's very hard to stop something that is already established like the cichlid keeping community.


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## pyrodarknessanny (Aug 23, 2010)

lol and as usual my thread gets away from me at 100 miles an hour, 
but its ok this time, just wanted to see where you all stand on this issue. 
and i know id get the exact reversed reaction had i have posted this on a fish based/themed froum. 

i agree with dottyback on this issue, banning all fish imports is one of the most retarted things i have ever heard of. and i do know a few pepole who have in the past breed fish for whole sale, and they all say that in hte long run its just not worth it, and these undividuals have been breeding things like discus and frontousa (chiclids), the whole saler wants to buy thousands of fish at a time, but they want tham all to be a certant size, and only pay minimal abounts for the fish.
lets say discus at a size of 8 cm each and they are getting them from the breeders for 80 centce eatch (remember that they are buying a few hundred fish at a time from the one place) 
they then sell the fish to there customers the pet shops and aquariums for $40 per fish, and in turn the the stores are then selling the fish to hobyests for $80 to $120 per fish, 


and depending on your fish of choice it afects what varity is avalible and wher you can get them from. 
i my self used to breed bettas, and not just the common "fighting fish" that many of you know, i used to have a number of mouth brooding sepcies as well as some of the lesser knowen bubble nesters, all of witch i had to get imported as no supliers had them. (and yes it was all done legaly) i was paying quite a bit for the fish at the time too, and they were comming from places where they wer commonly breed like guppies or other common fish, id hate to see what the price for them would be like if the imports stopped ( the local breeders would have no contest then)


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## Tsubakai (Aug 23, 2010)

lurker_sp said:


> It has everything to do with disease and quarantine!
> Well said Dotty.
> 
> http://www.daff.gov.au/__data/asset.../2009-06a_Ornamental_finfish_draft_report.pdf
> ...



This is what its really about. 

They couldn't give two hoots about the release of fish into waterways. It would be hypocritical if they did, given how many exotic fish are released into our waterways every year by Government bodies. Maybe they should concentrate on the already illegal species that are coming into the country every week. Given two weeks, I could get a nice school of piranha for my tank (however I'm not going to as the fine is enormous and I don't think piranha are interesting enough). Just standard government departments looking after their mates and doing something so they can be seen to be proactive whether its truly going to make a difference or not.


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## dragonboy69 (Sep 1, 2010)

does the government want to next ban import or exotic birds


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## kak1 (Sep 1, 2010)

Exotic parrots have not been an allowable import into the country for many years now with the last legal imports being in the early 90's dragonboy69. Pigeons and some others have however been imported in the last few years.


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## benjamind2010 (Sep 4, 2010)

Carpetpythonmorphs said:


> -I think the federal police might have something to do with the ban, however, as I found out in a book called the "Lizard King" that other much more illegal things come in with the fish.



Hmmm, maybe they should ban the importation of canned food too, while they're at it. Just because a lot of illegal crap comes in with fish imports doesn't mean that fish imports are a problem. It's that they are used to facilitate the importation of illegal material.

Ban fish, and they'll just use something else for their illegal imports to "piggyback" on. Be it canned food, books, CDs, DVD cases, etc


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