LMOUTHBASS
My hypocrisy goes only so far
Gambusia said:
Yes there are more parasites in a lake than in an aquarium, but those parasites should be native to that habitat. The concern is that a non-native fish could introduce a foreign parasite into that eco system which could wreak havok on the eco system. The game wardens can not determine where the fish you are releasing was kept, what is might've been exposed to, what it's eaten, and so on, so in the interest of our native species and eco systems they may have regulations which state if you keep a fish and have it in your aquarium you can not release back into the wild. This just makes sense due to some of the things I just stated above. It's too risky. There are lots of irresponsible fish keepers out there, we all know this. If there weren't then South American cichlids would not be running wild in our lakes in FL, AZ, and CA like they are now.
Also I'd like to point out catching a fish and releasing after the catch (in other words fishing) is totally different than collecting a fish n then keeping a fish in an aquarium and then releasing it later. When you go fishing you don't bring the fish home and expose it to whatever is in your aquarium so of course catch and release fishing is legal, it's the best way to go!
Also bass are extremely territorial. There have been incidents where fisherman have found full grown bass fighting over territory one adult bass had another adult bass half way down his throat with the other bass's tail flapping and trying to get free - They will swallow anything they can get in their mouths - even baby ducks
