Fish bans

[Chiclid addict]

So a buddy of mine wanted an axoltl so he went to his lfs and apparently they are illegal in ca so this raises the question what kind of fish are illegal where you live I don’t know of any where I currently live but I know there has to be a couple this is something we in the reptile community see far to often one person who got there reptile as a baby and now that it’s grown they don’t want it so they release it and that’s how this all starts and some places like Florida are really strict due to this 

[FrozenFins]

The good thing about Canada is that most tropical fish aren't ilgeal to own because if they were introduced into a public water way, they wouldn't survive the winter.

I know stingrays need a permit in canada, but I think thats the same in the USA.

 

[Chiclid addict]

4 minutes ago, JamesB said:

The good thing about Canada is that most tropical fish aren't ilgeal to own because if they were introduced into a public water way, they wouldn't survive the winter.

I know stingrays need a permit in canada, but I think thats the same in the USA.

 

I believe that they are only illegal in certain states they aren’t where I live I could walk In to my lfs and walk out with one what I’m noticing is that California seems to be the no fun state for fish glad I moved from there before I got into fish lol

here is where they are illegal/permit required in us 

[DShelton]

All of the snakeheads. I remember them in a tank at university when I was there. I would really like to have some of the dwarf species, some of them are very nice looking.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

The only wild animal you can own in CA is a muskrat. Go figure. hehe

Edited April 12, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[aqua-nut]

California has been really proactive trying to protect not only the environment but it's commercial agricultural resources.

Even licensed ownership does not guarantee there will be no releases of exotics. Anyone see "Jurassic Park" ?  🙂

Saying CA bans everything is a bit of an exaggeration. I have fish, plants and corals from all over the planet. As far as I know they are all legal. I've seen many reptiles for sale in the state so I assume they are legal too. Perhaps you can't get the animal, plant, insect, coral, etc. you want. It might be worthwhile to find out why they are banned.

Oh yea, muskrats. Native to CA. 

[GardenStateGoldfish]

Weather loaches (dojo loaches) are illegal in New Jersey, same with axolotls unfortunately. I also really wanted an axolotl but because they have the potential to breed with the native species of salamander they are illegal 

[gardenman]

For a while in NJ you had to have a permit to keep the dwarf African frogs. I think they rescinded that though as you see them in pet stores again. The law in NJ is purposely written vaguely. "Exotic species and nongame species requiring a permit for possession include but are not limited to the following:". They then give a very limited list of exempted species and after that say: "A permit shall be required for any other exotic mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians or nongame species not specifically exempted by N.J.A.C. 7:25-4.4." African dwarf frogs aren't on either list, so you're at some risk if you try to keep them.  You're pretty much at the mercy of wildlife officials if you try to keep something that's not specifically excluded from the permits. 

[skipper]

3 hours ago, GardenStateGoldfish said:

Weather loaches (dojo loaches) are illegal in New Jersey

Also in Jersey, I had no idea! This explains why I’ve never seen them in fish stores. I have ADFs and didn’t realize they were questionable, they are available in several stores near me. 

[Lemon]

I didn't know fw stingrays were illegal in Arkansas.

[Emika_B]

Too many illegal critters to list for Hawaii.  The ones that are legal, if you have them shipped in, have to go through inspection by the department of agriculture.  Yay for protecting our rare, native species; bummer for finding interesting critters.

[GardenStateGoldfish]

8 hours ago, skipper said:

 I have ADFs and didn’t realize they were questionable,

African dwarf frogs are available to buy with a permit, if you want one petsmart gets them in sometimes they are licensed to sell them, or at least the one by me. African clawed frogs are also permit only to own and you need to be licensed to sell but I have never seen one for sale. 
 

I wish there was a list of what was illegal in New Jersey right @skipper

[mynameisnobody]

Snakeheads and Asian Arowana are banned not only here in Florida, but I’m across the country. Channa Barca and AA are in my bucket list, but I may have to move very far away to make that happen. Dreams...

[Demobanana]

The thing is that everything here in California is illegal except dogs, cats, pond snails...and I think that's it. best of luck to your friend.

[gardenman]

On 4/12/2021 at 7:45 PM, GardenStateGoldfish said:

African dwarf frogs are available to buy with a permit, if you want one petsmart gets them in sometimes they are licensed to sell them, or at least the one by me. African clawed frogs are also permit only to own and you need to be licensed to sell but I have never seen one for sale. 
 

I wish there was a list of what was illegal in New Jersey right @skipper

The NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife have two lists on their site (both PDFs). One has a list of animals requiring a permit for possession, and one has a list of what animals are exempt. You might as well just look at the list of exempt animals though as everything else (according to their site) requires a permit. If you think of breeding anything that requires a permit and selling them to pet shops, you need a special permit that costs $100. If you Google "NJ Exotic and nongame wildlife permit" you can find all kinds of stuff. 

[Mikeg]

4 hours ago, Demobanana said:

The thing is that everything here in California is illegal except dogs, cats, pond snails...and I think that's it. best of luck to your friend.

Pretty big exaggeration, it's really the Stingrays that you can't get here in this hobby. We definitely don't need permits for Dwarf Frogs in CA, but at one point they were making people sign releases because they were suspected in salmonella outbreaks. We also took a long time to legalize GloFish, which most people probably aren't too upset about.

[GardenStateGoldfish]

4 hours ago, gardenman said:

The NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife have two lists on their site (both PDFs). One has a list of animals requiring a permit for possession, and one has a list of what animals are exempt. You might as well just look at the list of exempt animals though as everything else (according to their site) requires a permit. If you think of breeding anything that requires a permit and selling them to pet shops, you need a special permit that costs $100. If you Google "NJ Exotic and nongame wildlife permit" you can find all kinds of stuff. 

I appreciate that! I will look, last time I was on NJ fish and wildlife it was not a complete list though, it doesn't say anything about weather loach or "ornamental loach" is what they call it being illegal but local fish stores say its on the banned list they get

[gardenman]

7 hours ago, GardenStateGoldfish said:

I appreciate that! I will look, last time I was on NJ fish and wildlife it was not a complete list though, it doesn't say anything about weather loach or "ornamental loach" is what they call it being illegal but local fish stores say its on the banned list they get

Yeah, if you go to their exempt animal list, any animal of any type that isn't specifically exempted requires the permit. (Or could require the permit depending on how much they want to harass you.)

One of the beautiful things about living in NJ is you never have to ask "Is there a law about (insert name of anything here)?" There is. Everything is regulated. In my township you can only put your trash out after 6 PM the night before trash day and before 6AM the day of trash pickup. Forget to put it out the night before and it's after 6 AM on trash day? Too bad! You can't legally put your trash out even if the trashmen haven't shown up yet. (To be fair, the police don't even attempt to enforce the law, but it's there if they chose to.) Where you put your trash can is also heavily regulated. (Not that anyone follows the rules.) NJ has so many rules/regulations/laws that you can't go a full day without breaking a handful (or several handfuls) of them without even trying. The vast majority of the rules/laws/regulations get ignored, but they're there and can be used to harass you if the authorities decide to make an example of you. We're not one of the freest states you'll ever find yourself in. 

[GardenStateGoldfish]

@gardenmanThanks! and yeah I knew NJ was one of the most heavily regulated states, like California.

I mean the famous one is that it is illegal to pump your own gas... but you can find examples of red tape everywhere if you look for it. I am just so worried about ending up with something illegal by mistake (like an axolotl) that is a 10,000 dollar fine per animal... doing something like that by mistake would be devastating. 

[skipper]

@gardenman and @GardenStateGoldfish thanks for this discussion. I’m looking into this as well. Good news, we can have pet emus apparently 😂. The frogs are likely much less upkeep. It would be devastating to get a giant fine!

I have been scolded for trying to pump my own gas. Does get you quicker service though...

[gardenman]

If you read the regulations you'll find that you're not allowed to keep a blue whale in NJ.  Pity! It would be quite the centerpiece in a big enough tank. I raised cockatiels, lovebirds, parakeets, and green singing finches back in the eighties when this law first took effect. It pretty much crippled my sales. To sell the birds to a pet shop I'd have to get a special license and also a license for each of the birds (other than the parakeets and cockatiels that were exempt). To sell them to individuals privately would require me to be responsible to fill out the permit applications and forward them to the state. It was just a mess. I moved on to other endeavors. 

[GardenStateGoldfish]

@gardenman wait wait wait, I can't keep blue whales?!? what am I going to do with the one I got in the basement, oh goodness I hope nobody finds out. 

 

[gardenman]

1 minute ago, GardenStateGoldfish said:

@gardenman wait wait wait, I can't keep blue whales?!? what am I going to do with the one I got in the basement, oh goodness I hope nobody finds out. 

 

I laughed when I saw that they specifically included Blue Whales as an animal you couldn't keep. Ah, dang!

[Chiclid addict]

4 hours ago, GardenStateGoldfish said:

@gardenmanThanks! and yeah I knew NJ was one of the most heavily regulated states, something illegal (like an axolotl) that is a 10,000 dollar fine per animal.

Holy shrimp 

[anewbie]

Not an answer as to specifics but there are two types of fishes illegal - those that are endangered and those that are pests but it isn't only fishes - for those who send plants to friends there are many aquarium plants that are illegal in certain states....