>> Unfortunately, I've heard that this has been a massive
>> fad down south. All the Betta people are up in arms about
>> it of course. Fortunately, I've heard that the fad is on the
> > decline.
Y'all will be pleased to know that in Florida, where there's been a bunch of this kind of home-made craft activity going on, the Fish & Game Commission has been actively seeking out and busting sellers of such at flea markets. Apparently when you're selling craftie fish-bowl stuff with $5 of materials for $20-30, and throwing in an incidental $1 fish for cosmetic effect, it never occurs to you that you'd also need a tropical fish dealer's permit issued by the state, even if you're quote "giving away the fish for free" unquote. Oh whoops. (per the Tampa Bay area newspapers when I was down there on vacation during the summer.)
Given the general interest these days against protecting the environment from the (unplanned) introduction of non-indigenous critters, I would assume that similar laws exist in many other states and could be enforced against these "disgusting xmas ripoff"s, if local authorities were alerted & encouraged to do so. (However, I am concerned that some of these people, with holiday inventories of fish on hand and unable to sell or give them away legally, would just dump them into the nearest pond. So hopefully a component of the wildlife law citation would be a requirement to document the lawful disposition of said fish, but I don't know if the law/s actually extend to cover that.)
Doug Dame
Interlachen FL
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