this is something i posted a while ago, but i think it applies here as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lilim10
Why don't lfs just stop selling the fish that grow large? But if they have to sell them, at least educate the buyers. If that happened, everyone would be happy and they would have more business in the future through good reputation. Isn't that worth more than a couple extra dollars and a crappy reputation?
if it was only that easy. however, without higher-level regulations, there will always be some stores that sell inappropriately large fish, and most likely they will do so unethically i.e. without double-checking the buyer's "qualifications", if you will, or even informing them of the potential of the fish to get large.
the stores that in good faith try to sell 'safe' fish will end up losing business, and eventually either shutting down or having to revert back to selling fish they really would rather not sell.
this is because the majority of the hobby in the real world is run by idiots. and i don't mean idiots as in beginners, because we were all beginners once. i mean idiots as in "i want what i want and i want it now and i know everything there is to know already so don't try and teach me nuthin'." those are the people who see the red tail cats, pirahnas (or their legal cousin, the pacu), arowanas, bala sharks, etc. at their friend's house or on youtube or somewhere and want to go and get one. or just to make it less specific, they are the ones who want blue and purple oscars, a tank of jellybean parrots with every color of the rainbow, or "i love you" tattooed gouramis and whatever else it is that most experienced/informed fishkeepers try to avoid.
it is these people - the idiots, the gimme's, the instant-gratification needers - that can run good shops out of business simply by being the majority and the moneyholders. if they go into a "good" shop (which we might applaud and put on a pedestal for their ethical business values) and don't see the fish they want, they might ask why, and then tune the employee out as soon as they start to hear something that interferes with their 'want it now' attitude. or they might just leave without saying anything at all and go across town to Poacher Joe's Emporium of Giant Dyed Fish (get an inch of fish per gallon at half price with any same day tank purchase!).
I think that there SHOULD be regulations in place. First of all, tankbusters should be taxed at a separate and high rate at the store->buyer level, which would make purchasing them in the first place a deterrent to most (not all) casual fishkeepers. Any store that sells fish should be required to take the same/similar types of fish that they sell back at any time in the event that the owner can no longer keep the fish. (This is already the law in Hawaii to prevent the further introduction of non-native species to their local waterways). There should also be laws preventing the stores from destroying the returned fish, provided they were not returned in such bad shape that euthanization was warranted. Stores that do not sell tankbusters would not be bound to take those fish in, but any store that does sell them should bear the burden of taking them back at a later date if need be. That way it makes the stores directly responsible for what they allow to be sold, and will either cut down on the sales or increase the honest information given to buyers.
As a store owner under these regulations, you are going to make darn sure that any large fish you sell goes to a home that can take care of it throughout its lifetime, or you will not sell large fish at all. The stores would not be directly hurt by the tax burden, only the buyer. Sure, they may sell less large fish because of it (or not have them at all) but they can sell a lot more "appropriately" sized fish for a tank that could have only one large fish in it. One pacu at $5 for a 30g tank, or 20 neon tetras at $2.50 each?
