I can kinda see it both ways, and yes, it is frustrating. Neither species
is really desireable for consumption (gobies are small and white perch are
super oily) and so to discourage anyone from practicing "bucket biology" and
introducing them elsewhere... They just say "don't have them".
The gobies are particularly dangerous in this manner, as any predatory fish
(read: sport species) in infected waters has figured out that gobies make
fine, easy to capture food. It doesn't take long for fisherman to figure
this out as well, start using them for bait (guilty as charged ;) and then
make some convoluted connection that they'd make fine fare in other water
bodies. Yikes. I say have the laws in place to nail anyone who wants to
follow through with this disturbing thinking.
Now if a DNR officer found you with a mess of gobies on a skewer getting
ready to make goby-ka-bobs... I think you can explain your way out of that
one. ;)
The law is only there to provide the law enforcement with the ability to
make discernment in what the offense is, and how they'd like to process it.
With that in mind... What if a wildlife officer found a livewell full of
round gobies down in southern Ohio that were all dead because of the 3 hour
drive from Lake Erie... What would he do? I'd say it was painfully obvious
this person wanted to release them elsewhere.... But to get hung up on
"live" vs "dead", that's a fine/penalty that should be placed.
The law needs to provide for that, and I think that's why it's written as
such.
The law in Michigan and Ohio also states that any goby upon capture is to be
destroyed and thrown back into the water (not much protection there).
I wish carp would get the same treatment... And sometimes... They do :)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ty Hall" <tyhall_at_mia.net>
To: <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2003 11:38 AM
Subject: Re: NANFA-- Blanket Bans & Mussel Culture?
> This is not really Mussel related, but it brings to my mind the issue of
how
> states are dealing with invasive species. Wisconsin in particular has
really
> backwards approaches to this topic. For example, the White Perch and
Gobies are a
> huge problem, so what Does Wisconsin do? Bans the fishing or possession of
White
> Perch and Gobies. In my mind it makes more sense to open it up and let
people keep
> all the stinking White Perch and Gobies they want. By banning the fishing
and
> possession of these fish we are in essence providing it with protection. I
say
> encourage the fishing for and possesion of (dead) invasive species.
>
> Ty
-- > /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily > / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes > / Association" > / This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association > / nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word > / subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to > / nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to > / nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead. > / For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org /----------------------------------------------------------------------------- /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes / Association" / This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association / nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word / subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to / nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to / nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead. / For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org