Great Lakes Under Attack

This si why you don't release pets and what not...

Single Asian carp found 6 miles from Lake Michigan - Yahoo! News

 

Stuff like this is frightening. Being a responsible pet owner it really angers me as well. I would hate for our hobby to have heavier regulations put on it because of a few irresponsible folks.

 

or research invasive species in flood planes.

 

Our hobby horribly needs them as the trade itself has proven it can't not police itself even in the slightest. Personally I think LFS should have to get a special permit (with test), have over sight, etc and even more so on the import side. Having worked every facet of this industry I've seen stuff go down that any sane person with a slight vision of the future would probably walk away from the trade all together. I've stuck it out as I know we can do better and I keep pushing those that aren't up to par.

Yes this would cause prices to hike, but they need to in terms of what each step of the CoC makes. The collector gets squat. They are the reef guardians, they should be seeing a lot more of the money. The trade should not be built on their backs.

 

Asian carp have been an issue for years up there, always one step away from invading the great lakes. Although the species will have an impact on the great lakes I do not think it will be as bad as it's been hyped up to be. Same with snake head fish down here in FL.

 

@Gresham Very good points and thanks for the input. I should have been more specific. I am fearful of legislation passing that sees these invasive species move in and immediately decides to shut down everything. I believe last year there was talk of a bill that had some rules about our hobby, most notable to me was a rule about buying or selling corals including frags. Yes endangered corals should be banned from collection but frags from hobbyists seems a bit harsh. (It would be hard to tell the difference.) Maybe we could have an organization (Similar to Monterey Bay Aquariums Seafood Watch) that told us what to buy, not to buy. I certainly wouldn't buy anything on the do not buy list if there was one. Maybe they could certify businesses that practice sustainable business models (stores, vendors, collectors etc.) and us as consumers could use our dollars to choose who to support. I would certainly only buy responsibly caught animals if I knew which ones were. ORA does a good job of captive breeding and people don't mind spending the extra coin there. Sorry for the rant, I will get off my soapbox!

 

only if asian carp were more tasty, then there would be more of a market for them. that would keep their numbers down more. If they had a reason to catch them on a large scale. still a huge problem though :-/
just my 2 cents

 

To bad large companies won't catch them for fish meal in carnivorous fish fish food. Would help with the overfishing of smaller fish used in fish meal.

 

That's way too responsible, insightful, and environmentally friendly for a corporation.

 

the sad part is living next to lake Ontario there is so many random garbage types of fish that people have randomly dropped in the lake. The locals have caught many non natural fish but the only thing they are doing is saying fish the areas more to rid them or cut back on them.