Of course regardless of where you live it is irresponsible to set your fish or any animal free, at least in North America. Even tropicals can survive at the right time of year long enough to introduce disease. And heaven forbid those people that don't have a septic system and their waste gets empties right into lakes. All those flushed goldfish could be having a great time.
Exotic Introductions
- Thread starter schiejr
- Start date
Right! I live up here in Canada and i would NEVER consider releasing any fish into the wild.
Cold water fish are the only fish that i'm sure could survive our winters.... but i would never take that chance. Especially cichlids which could easily outcompete smaller more fragile fauna.
And disease yes, we all know how LFS fish come riddled with disease sometimes. If you dump a sick fish or an unwanted one he could contaminate the whole stream/pond.
And the "oh dumping one fish now and then wont hurt" way of thinking is obviously wrong because look at that link.... I think i saw every kind of hardy aquarium fish on the market! So many people must be releasing thier fish.
:shake:
Its too bad....
Cold water fish are the only fish that i'm sure could survive our winters.... but i would never take that chance. Especially cichlids which could easily outcompete smaller more fragile fauna.
And disease yes, we all know how LFS fish come riddled with disease sometimes. If you dump a sick fish or an unwanted one he could contaminate the whole stream/pond.
And the "oh dumping one fish now and then wont hurt" way of thinking is obviously wrong because look at that link.... I think i saw every kind of hardy aquarium fish on the market! So many people must be releasing thier fish.
:shake:
Its too bad....
Here's an idea you all should consider. Now, people have ponds and there are many possibilities as to what could be in those ponds when you have the cash to do so. A couple of years ago I was standing in my front yard and saw a Hawk with a fish in his claws. As he got closer to where I was he suddenly dropped it in the middle of the street and because he was too afraid of me he didn't come back and get it. I don't remember if the fish was still alive or not, but it appeared to be a Brim aka Bluegill. Even though that is a regular fish around these parts, what about the fish in people's ponds...or anywhere that is open? Any bird has the possibility of picking it up and dropping it somewhere. My house is surrounded by large bodies of water...ANYTHING is possible...
HAHA!
well i GUESS thats a possibility.... but i'm sure the chance that a bird picks up a fish, delicately holds on to it to keep it alive in good condition, then drops it into another pond/stream/body of water is pretty slim.
whatever, the point is to make people aware that introducing exotic species can wreak havoc on a delicate ecosystem.
just look at what the nile perch did to the cichlid population of lake victoria!
well i GUESS thats a possibility.... but i'm sure the chance that a bird picks up a fish, delicately holds on to it to keep it alive in good condition, then drops it into another pond/stream/body of water is pretty slim.
whatever, the point is to make people aware that introducing exotic species can wreak havoc on a delicate ecosystem.
just look at what the nile perch did to the cichlid population of lake victoria!
Heh, for that matter, look at what the nile perch does everywhere but on the Nile.... when I lived in Florida, sometimes I would go to the lake and that's all I'd find.... (the government introduced them to eat the lilypads on some of the lakes in Central Florida, and they have taken over many of them...)
Actually, birds are one of the ways that species will spread naturally. Predatory birds are often suspected to have spread fish from one drainage to another, or upstream from a fish barrier within a stream. Water fowl are also suspect, as they can carry fish eggs in their feathers (ie, they swim through a clutch of eggs, some get stuck, the bird flies to another water, the eggs float free). It has to happen a few times in order to establish a population, but it does happen.
oriongirl beat me to it but I was gonna say the same thing. I have seen several stories of how fish have been spread from body of water to body of water. I've heard of people building private ponds on their property and having fish they didn't stock show up. I know sunfish spread like fire around here from pond to pond, you don't even have to put them in there, they find a way somehow. I guess Pelican's migrate through Oklahoma (never seen one though) and I'm sure they could transport a fish whole and alive. Not sure what all possibilities there are. It's kind of like the coconuts in Monty Python 
Kyle
Kyle
Not every bird mangles it's prey with it's claws. I have also seen many birds carrying fish and the fish was still wiggling frantically.
I didn't doubt it.
Alot of birds of prey like to keep the fish they catch alive long enough to reach thier nest with a live fish...
But the population of one fish needs to be high enough in one body of water so that the chances of fish being dropped into another body of water (alive and well) is high enough to populate that other body of water.
I'm just saying i dont think its extremely likely that that is going to be a major concern when dealing with the introduction of exotic species.
humans are far more to blame....
Alot of birds of prey like to keep the fish they catch alive long enough to reach thier nest with a live fish...
But the population of one fish needs to be high enough in one body of water so that the chances of fish being dropped into another body of water (alive and well) is high enough to populate that other body of water.
I'm just saying i dont think its extremely likely that that is going to be a major concern when dealing with the introduction of exotic species.
humans are far more to blame....
I'm willing to bet they go south of central Florida. Oscars will not live outdoors north of central Florida. I refer to Oscars since they are common. There are "grass carp" or Tilapia that have ruined largemouth Bass populations since they forcefully take over the sand bottom breeding areas -- most places have silt and muck where egg laying just doesn't work out.
Overall, most of these warm water tropical fishes grow large, and are very aggressive. The native fish can't compete.
