Re: NANFA-- Releasing fish?

Bruce Stallsmith (fundulus_at_hotmail.com)
Sun, 29 Oct 2000 11:14:30 EST

There is a variety of possible ways that releasing fish can be harmful. One
is that by catching fish, keeping them in your tanks or buckets for a while,
you can expose them to diseases or parasites that may be new to these fish
and their habitat if you release these fish. If you releases fish to a
different stream or pond even in the same area, it's an even bigger
possibility of also introducing new pathogens. With some fishes, if you move
them around between habitats you may be playing God with population
genetics; this is not a big deal with bass or bluegills, but could be esp.
with various darters and shiners. And finally, you may wind up
unintentionally introducing new species into a locale if you're not paying
attention to what's in your bucket; this would make you one of the famous
"bucket biologists" responsible for many introductions around the country,
such as red shiners into a much bigger range than originally.

I hope this illustrates the possible downsides of fish releases...

--Bruce Stallsmith
Huntsville, AL

>From: NATURNUT_at_aol.com
>Reply-To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
>To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
>Subject: NANFA-- Releasing fish?
>Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2000 10:49:25 EST
>
> You know what I don't understand? Why it's harmful to release fish
>that
>you have already caught. I know many people who freely release fish that
>they
>have brought home, but decide they don't want them. One man in particular
>is
>a very knowledgable native fish enthusiast, who also owns a pet store. I'm
>sure there is some simple explanation why it is harmful to practice this.
>I'm
>not the smartest person on the subject, so please knock some sense into
>me!
>:)
>
> ___Dan

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