NFC: Collecting banded Sunfish

[Jake Owen <jkowen2 at optonline_net>]

Hello Everyone,
I am new to the list.  I mosty keep Apistos, and dream of one day venturing to
the amazon to collect my very own.
As for now, I cannot afford a trip to the Amazon. I live in central NJ,
So, I was thinking it might be interesting to get sort of a "warm up" by taking
a much smaller, cheaper, trip to the Pine Barrens, to look for some of the
Banded Sunfish
First off, I want to make sure they are not endangered , or if my collecting
them would be harmful in any way.
I have looked on the web for any info about this, and got mixed answers.
Second, if all is okay, can anyone recommend anywhere to go?
Do I need any kind of permits?
or anything special I need to bring with me?
Any and all help appreciated,
Jay Cohen