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small crustacean hatches

Regarding the recent discussions about the shrimp in Africa...
Thank you Dr. Watters for your observations in the field. You always make
the pieces of the puzzle a little clearer. I'm not always able to put the
whole picture together...put the pieces are pretty.
But others are suggesting we grow them/collect them/cultivate them...let
them stay there. All we need is for some rather minor event to cause an
escape and away we go again...more laws and regulations...more screws stuck
to the hobby.
If the price of Brine Shrimp eggs is really affecting the way you approach
the hobby...try old standbys such as microworms. Use the BBS judiciously,
learn to cope with lower hatch rates (not that big of a deal really).
Bringing in a freshwater organism from another area that is as small as a
shrimp will only create a liability for our own rather fragile environment.
Recently one of our hobbyists brought some "magical" shrimp-like critters
from Europe. The discussion was about throwing them into backyard tubs and
ponds, and people were thinking that was a good idea...I sat in the back of
the room cringing. I have a massive duckweed problem...two species no
less...and all of it started with the friendly Raccoons and their nightly
ravaging (my local variety of Coons like Killifish BTW as well as several
types of live bearers, blue gill and simply love playing in the najas). You
see, our local "ditch" is full of duckweed...and now my system is full too.
...and then how did the daphnia get in the tubs in back? Perhaps the birds
and raccoons helped there too. But if the birds and masked bandits bring
stuff to me...wouldn't they be just as capable of take stuff from my tubs
and placing in that ditch which runs rather directly, albeit
unceremoniously, into the San Francisco Bay?
So if we are to transport small and seemingly benign bugs from place to
place, we had better be darned sure that we can contain them. I would submit
that very few of us are prepared to set up systems and protocols to contain
Pandora.
In the short term, the governmental solution would be to close the spigots
as has Australia, New Zealand, now Brazil...and on and on.
Enough Soapbox

Jim


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