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NFC: : Exotics and Ft Lauderdale collecting
help
Robert Rice
NFC president
www.nativefish.org
--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: CougarJet9 at aol_com
To: Nativefishconservancy at yahoogroups_com
Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 03:56:14 -0000
Subject: [Nativefishconservancy] Re: Exotics and Ft Lauderdale collecting
Message-ID: <9k7uku+pljp at egroups_com>
Tilapia have to be the worst. Everytime I go to a local canal to
go netting I see spawning circles of Tilapia and always are catching
Tilapia in my net. You had mentioned that the Tilapia and Red Oscar
were introduced purposly, who's lousy hypothosis was this?, because
the conclusion really sucked. Another fish that I believe has ruined
south Florida waters is the Walking Catfish.
I did some netting today, I kept some Sailfin Mollies, a Swamp
Darter, a very small Bluespot Sunfish, a couple Goldenears, some
grass shrimp, and a small crayfish. The Bluespot probly isn't gonna
do too well, since there is already a much larger Green Sunfish in
the tank--he'll upset the Bluespot too much. I did see some midsized
Bluespots while I was netting. These have to be one of the pretties
fish when they are subjected to a dark surrounding. Unfortunately, in
my tank the fishes colors fade out because of a lighter backround.
Where do you live Robert? Do you know of anyone else in the Fort
Lauderdale area that collects frshwater fish for aquariums?
Thanks,
Mark Piechowski
--- In Nativefishconservancy@y..., robert a rice <robertrice@j...>
wrote:
>
> Once Caught, Once Bought, Never Returned!
> Aquarists take on the problem of exotic introductions
> Robert Rice thismessage:/robertrice@j...
> The invaders are here. Scores of them out-hustling, out-numbering
and
> dining on the weaker rightful owners. Pushing them out of their
homes on
> onto the fringes of their former homelands. Sounds terrible,
doesn't it?
> It sounds like a case for Amnesty International. It's not though.
It's a
> case for the Exotic Removal Team. You see, the invaders are the many
> types of escaped aquarium species living and reproducing in the Deep
> South. It's easy to pass the blame on who let em lose. Some say it
was
> the aquaculture industry, others say it was individual aquarists,
sick
> and tired of feeding their now too large pets, others blame it on
> misguided fisheries managers. At this point it really does not
matter any
> more because they are out there in the hundreds of thousands. They
are
> choking out native species and causing chaos in the food chain.
It's a
> mess. In the Deep South we have Jewel Cichlids, Oscars, Mayan
Cichlids,
> Pacus, Plecos, and countless other African and South American
species
> calling the USA home. We aquarists have this environmental mess
properly
> laid at our feet. In an ironic twist aquarists are giving those same
> native species they put in peril a helping hand. We at the Native
Fish
> Conservancy have come up with a unique twist to further fund
conservation
> projects and fight back against the exotic hordes. Our solution,
Exotic
> Removal Teams. Teams of people who like to collect and who have an
> environmental passion about the whole exotics issue. It's a very
simple
> concept. Let's collect exotics, auction the small ones to northern
fish
> clubs and terminate the rest. Everyone wins, exotics are removed,
folks
> have fun and the NFC literally gets paid by aquarists to do
conservation
> work (exotic species removal). A great idea, the money goes into a
> separate account and will accumulate until it is a suitable amount
to do
> a special conservation project like buying land and easement rights
on
> environmentally sensitive waterways or funding an endangered species
> breeding project.
> What better way to fund the Native fish Conservation than off the
backs
> of the introduced exotics? This is a great example of how aquarists
can
> do a little something extra and make a big conservation difference.
It
> all started with a simple sentence in a note I wrote to our email
list at
> NFC@a... I asked the rhetorical question "Wouldn't it be nice if
> we could ship some of those cichlids up north to fund NFC's
projects?"
> Suddenly it was like a switch was thrown, members and non-members
from
> Southern Florida suddenly chimed in "I'd be willing to collect XYZ
> cichlids every month if it would help." Other folks up north
volunteered
> to contact their aquarium societies and arrange shipping dates to
> coincide with upcoming events and auctions. In just a few days the
> program was fully fleshed out with an Administrator to handle email
> auctions and a volunteer team to handle the project from beginning
to
> end. Just like that, an idea became a reality. Aquarists were now
part of
> the solution. Granted this little program won't change the world
but it
> is a start; a very good start.
> It was decided early on to follow a good science approach to the
whole
> issue. So the "Once caught, Once Bought, Never returned" concept
became
> policy. Here's what "Once Caught, Never Returned" means. When an
exotic
> is caught by a NFC Exotic Removal Team Member it will never be
returned
> to any watershed in this country period. That means every collected
large
> cichlid is humanly destroyed and sometimes eaten. The large
cichlids are
> just about impossible to economically ship due to their spiked
dorsal
> fins. The smaller ones are kept in quarantine ponds awaiting the
next
> auction. If no acceptable offer is tendered they are terminated.
> Sometimes literally hundreds of cichlids, plecos and the like are
caught
> in a day. More than we could reasonably sell. They are humanely
destroyed
> without exception. The same goes for all of us in the NFC ERP when
it
> comes to sport fishing, any exotics caught are never returned,
period.
> The only exceptions are for species regulated by fishing agencies as
> sport fish, such as Peacock bass. "Once Bought, Never Returned"
applies
> to all the buyers of these exotics. We require them to agree to
never
> release any of the fish or their progeny into any waterway, period.
It's
> obvious that aquarists should take responsibility for the many
exotics
> released out there. We should all take an aggressive approach to
keeping
> our fish where they belong, in our home aquariums.
> This program is a good solid program for several reasons. First the
law
> is on our side, in most cases the collection of exotic fishes is
> unregulated. You can collect as many as you want as often as you
want.
> The state agencies are as sick of them being there as we are. They
are
> all too happy to have someone remove them. Second aquarists are
becoming
> much more conservation minded and realize that if this rate of
exotic
> releases continues we risk serious legislation limiting or banning
the
> import of exotics. We have been sloppy stewards of our native flora
and
> fauna. The time is right for all of us to do better. This activism
makes
> all the difference in the world. So get involved. Let's talk irony
for
> moment. Aquarists often speak with disdain about the ecological
fiasco
> that is the Rift Lakes. The wonderful Rift Lakes and their Cichlids
are
> in serious peril because of exotic introductions, pollution and bad
lake
> management. You name the problem the Rift Lakes have it. The Nile
Perch
> munches his way through one unique Rift species after another. In
less
> than ten years it may very well be beyond repair. It is very sad.
> Aquarists rightly speak out against this unjustifiable ecological
> tragedy. Now for the irony these same Aquarist intentionally
released
> Oscars and Mayan Cichlids into the Everglades. Today these Cichlids
along
> with government introduced Tilapia are the dominant fish species in
the
> Everglades. The Everglades, America's shining jewel of biological
> diversity is now just a bit too diverse. We aquarists should be very
> embarrassed for what we have done to the Everglades. I personally
am. The
> biblical adage about removing the log in your own eye comes to mind
when
> I think about the Everglades and the Rift Lakes.
> Enough carping (Ugh carp now that is another long story) about the
wrongs
> that have been done. I'd rather talk about fixing the problem. If
> aquarists on a greater scale got involved with Conservation
organizations
> we could make a huge difference. We Americans spend more money on
our
> fish hobby than most small countries' GNP. So I will ask you to do
three
> things. First VOW to never release an unwanted Aquarium fish to any
> waterway period. Freeze 'em, smoke 'em, trade 'em, eat 'em but never
> release them. Second cough up the 10-20 bucks and join the Native
Fish
> Conservancy , Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society or any other Not
For
> Profit conservation organization. Even if you get no more involved
that
> being a passive member your membership counts for a lot. Third take
the
> time to learn about your local flora and fauna. Take your kids, your
> date, your dad, anyone you can find collecting and watching. The
best way
> to learn is to observe. There are also great books available on the
wild
> things where you live. Find them via the web (check out the NFC
website
> http://www.nativefish.org for links to most of them) or your state
> fisheries department or your local bookstore. For example I just
read the
> new Fishes of Missouri by William Pflieger, loved it. Had a nice
bit on
> keeping natives in the home aquarium. BTW it's only 15 bucks 300
plus
> pages lotsa color photos.
> As you can see this is a very worthwhile and practical project that
could
> use your help. If you live down south and would like to join or
create an
> Exotics Removal Team in your town. Or if you or your Aquarium
Society is
> interested in Florida wild-caught cichlids, plecos and the like for
your
> next Society Function Please contact the ERP administrator.
>
> Daryl is currently no longer the ERP administtrator but thought
youd like
> a local contact
> Daryl Roche.........
> email Phylesis@a...
> SASE to 425 N.E. 12th Ave.
> Ft. Lauderdale FL 33301
> Until next time good luck and good fishing!
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