Re: NANFA-- exotics

Wally Billingham (wally_at_wallybillingham.com)
Sun, 15 Sep 2002 22:48:06 -0400

Well said Moon, here in my home state of PA the fish commission exists for
the sole purpose of breeding and then releasing exotics like trout into our
water ways. It has even gotten to the point that they are now destroying
many of the streams that flow into Lake Eire. What they are doing is digging
large holes with backhoes and then hauling away the rubble in dump trucks.
They did it a few weeks ago in Elk Creek. They drive the dump trucks and
backhoes right down the shallow stream bed. They are doing it to try and
establish a Steelhead fishery in Lake Erie. What they re doing is taking
shallow creeks with great riffles full of darters, and FEDERALLY protected
mussel species and making them deeper for the steelhead. Sounds like a good
idea don't it? Why not just leave Lake Erie alone, it already has enough
problems with Zebra Mussles, Dojo Loaches, Round Gobies, and many other
exotics.

Wally
----- Original Message -----
From: <Moontanman_at_aol.com>
To: <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
Sent: Sunday, September 15, 2002 10:28 PM
Subject: Re: NANFA-- exotics

> In a message dated 9/15/02 10:07:21 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> fundulus_at_hotmail.com writes:
>
> << Moon, I have one word for you: Florida. (This includes fish farmers
too,
> of
> course.)
> >>
> I said that Florida was an exception but even there damage is often
> exaggerated and Florida releases their own exotics for fishermen too. Can
we
> say Peacock Bass? and fish farmers in many more places than Florida are
> responsible for exotic releases and I don't mean aquarium exotics either.
> Some parts of Florida are warm enough for some tropicals to establish
> themselves there but the ones that have are mostly escapees from fish
farms
> not John Doe releasing his aquarium pets. My whole point here is that
> aquarium keepers are getting far too much of the blame because we are easy
> targets and tropical fish stand out more than fish from say the
Mississippi
> River system being released in Atlantic slope streams. but the damage is
just
> as bad if not worse but everyone seems to forget those releases and there
are
> plenty of releases from other continents to keep them company all courtesy
of
> our local government. But God help us all if a neon tetra gets dumped in a
> ditch, we could all loose the right to keep fish at all.
>
> Moon

--
> /"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